In all, the state created 26,200 jobs over that one-year period.

Utah's job creation rate is down sharply from a peak nearly two years ago, when in the period that ended June 30, 2006, the state's economy added 54,000 jobs, for an employment growth rate of 5.4 percent.

Even with the slowdown, job growth in Utah remains higher than the U.S. rate of 0.4 percent.

Utah's employment growth is slowing down in great part because of the sharp downturn in the residential real estate market along the Wasatch Front. As home sales have declined from a blistering pace, people working for home builders, mortgage and title companies, and other companies related to real estate have lost jobs in recent months.

As a result, Utah's unemployment rate for March rose slightly, to 3.3 percent, meaning 46,200 Utahns were out of work last month. The U.S. unemployment rate also moved up, to 5.1 percent.