But like other employers in Utah's super-tight labor market, she has put any ambitious growth plans on hold because there are simply not enough workers to go around.

There is no shortage of job creation in Utah, as the state continues to lead the country in that labor category, with employment growth of 4.5 percent for the year that ended in June, the Utah Department of Workforce Services reported Tuesday. No. 2 is Arizona, which is creating jobs at 3.4 percent. The national average: only 1.4 percent.

The trick comes in finding quality, available workers for those jobs.

Although the tight labor market is a good thing for workers, who can more easily switch jobs and command higher salaries, many employers are having difficulty hanging on to the workers they've got - let alone hiring any more.

Jacketta, owner of Jacketta Sweeping Service in West Valley City, said she has a hard time finding and keeping people who can drive her large trucks that clean streets and parking lots along the Wasatch Front. She has raised wages to remain competitive, but even so, she said she has lost several employees over the past year to larger companies with better benefits.

As a result, she said she's been forced to lower her expectations.

"I'm putting up with a lot more [from employees] than I used to," she said. "And you do anything you can do to keep employees happy. If someone comes in late or doesn't show up, for example, in the past I might have just let them go. Now I try and work with them."

She said her company could expand further if she could find even just a few more workers to hire. But she can't, and that's a situation that is not expected to change for Utah employers anytime soon.

Utah's job growth peaked at 5.4 percent in June 2006 and was expected to gradually decline. Although it has, the rate has unexpectedly remained right at 4.5 percent since January.

"And we expect it to remain this high, at least through the end of the year," Mark Knold, chief economist for Workforce Services, said Tuesday.

In all, about 55,100 jobs have been created in the Utah economy in the past year, raising total employment to 1.27 million. That's an average of nearly 4,600 new jobs in the state per month.

Utah's unemployment rate was 2.6 percent in June, down even more from the super-low 2.9 percent in June 2006 and well below the national average of 4.5 percent.

Economists generally consider Utah to be in a state of "full employment," which means that virtually anyone who wants a job can find one.

Only about 35,300 Utahns were unemployed in June, compared with 38,100 in June 2006.

Knold said many employers are still able to find workers in Utah by drawing from other states, especially those with more people in need of a job. Companies also are offering bonuses to employees who refer job applicants who are hired, as well as giving signing bonuses and bonuses to employees who remain for a specified amount of time.

Portland, Ore.-based Regence BlueCross BlueShield, which has operations in Utah, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, is one of many employers that offer cash incentives to employees who recommend people who end up getting hired.

"We're encouraging our own employees to be recruiters," said Ryan Reeder, Regence human resources manager.

The company also has been trying several other strategies, such as advertising its on-site day care to potential employees - especially working mothers.

Reeder said positions paying a variety of wages are hard to fill right now. There is a shortage of lower-paid customer service employees, as well as higher-paid information technology and actuary positions.

lesley@sltrib.com