But the survey of 1,169 executives conducted by Dan Jones & Associates during the first two weeks of October also showed bosses thinking twice before authorizing capital expenditures during 2006's fourth quarter, and worried about finding and keeping qualified employees in a tight labor market.

"Our most recent study shows that executives from a variety of industries remain cautiously optimistic about effects of the economic climate on their businesses," said Dan Jones' co-owner, Pat Jones.

While remaining positive, optimism levels for business leaders were not as high as found during an earlier study for the third quarter. Based on profits and losses over the past three months, 29 percent rated optimism for their companies 9 to 10 on a scale with 1 being most pessimistic and 10 most positive. For the previous quarter, 9 to 10 ratings were at 33 percent.

Those choosing 7s and 8s accounted for 47 percent, down from 50 percent. Three-quarters of the respondents rated their optimism for the fourth quarter from 7 to 10, compared with 83 percent three months earlier.

Richard Nelson, president and CEO of the Utah Technology Council, was mildly surprised at the dampening of enthusiasm for the economy, no matter how modest the shift.

"This is the strongest economy technology has ever had," said Nelson, whose group represents about 4,000 tech companies in the state. "We continue to be bullish. Utah is clearly one of the strongest economies in the country."

The only downside? Many good-paying, high-tech jobs are going unfilled due to the high employment levels, and lack of skilled, experienced workers to fill the openings.

Challenges in recruiting new workers at a time of continuing low unemployment are only likely to continue, and Utah's economic growth could lose some steam going into 2007, said Jeff Thredgold, a Zions economic consultant.

"The Utah economy is likely to slow next year as tight labor markets limit employment growth. However, we expect Utah to continue to rank among the top 10 states in job gains," he wrote in his most recent autumn "Insight" report. "The residential real estate market is strong, with solid price appreciation likely to continue in 2007. The state's overall outlook remains very favorable."

Along with finding qualified employees, executives listed workers' health insurance costs as top worries. Gasoline prices - the No. 1 concern in the previous quarter's report - remained among primary stressors, though diminished by recent declines in prices at the pump.

Eighty-one percent of study participants said they planned capital expenditures at current levels or more in the previous quarterly study; that had dropped to 78 percent for the third-quarter edition, with 31 percent saying they would spend less, compared with 19 percent for the previous quarter.

Reflecting the more cautious levels of optimism, 47 percent predicted unchanged and 13 percent predicted reduced work forces for the fourth quarter.

bmims@sltrib.com