But don't expect a recession anytime soon, said Creighton professor Ernie Goss, whose monthly report is based on a survey of corporate purchasing managers. Utah's economy is still growing and is showing no advance signs of a sharp downturn. "It's still very healthy," he said.

Moderating growth is good news, he said, because Utah's economic growth - particularly in the area of employment gains - has been significantly above the national average for nearly a year now.

And all that economic growth can cause headaches for companies trying to hire workers, Gross said.

The Omaha-based university's monthly Business Conditions Index for Utah declined to 70.6 in August from 80.6 in July.

But even 70.6 is a healthy number, Goss said. The index ranges from zero to 100; an index number greater than 50 indicates that there will be economic growth in the months ahead, while an index number less than 50 demonstrates economic weakness.

For the entire Mountain States region, which includes Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, the Business Conditions Index rose to 75.6, up from 75.0 in July.

Mark Knold, senior economist for the Utah Department of Workforce Services, said he too is starting to see the signs that economic growth has peaked.

Employment growth in Utah in July was 4.7 percent, down from 4.9 percent in June. He anticipates job growth next year will be in the range of 3.5 percent.

Like Goss, Knold attributes the slowdown to the fact that companies are struggling to find workers to fill all those available jobs. And when they can't find enough workers, they cannot continue to grow as fast as they would like to.

"It's not a situation of an economy going bad, it's just an economy not growing as fast," Knold said. "It's like driving a car at 80 miles per hour and backing down to 70. You're still going fast, just not as fast."

lesley@sltrib.com