"It's amazing how many jobs Utah has right now," said Adams, who landed a sales position with a vending machine distributor and is building a home in Saratoga Springs. "It's nice to know that if for some reason I need to find another job at some point it won't be that difficult."
He is not the only one taking notice of Utah's rosy employment outlook. The state is adding jobs at the highest rate in eight years - 37,900 new positions in the year that ended July 31 for a growth rate of 3.5 percent. Only a handful of states, including Nevada, can boast bigger numbers.
"The word is out that Salt Lake City has a lot of jobs," said JoAnn Wagner, chief executive officer of SOS Staffing Services in Salt Lake City, who considers Utah's job market to be the most favorable to job-seekers since 1999. Wagner said employers along the Wasatch Front are increasingly getting job applicants from high-unemployment areas in other parts of the country.
What types of jobs are available in Utah? Utah's economy is adding new positions in all industrial areas and wage levels, including education, health services, hospitality and construction, according to a state unemployment report released Tuesday by the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
In fact, some employers - such as call center operators, construction companies, and some manufacturing businesses - face shortages of qualified workers, Wagner said.
As a result of the uptick in hiring, Utah's unemployment rate in July remained 4.7 percent, down from 5.3 percent in the same month a year ago.
About 57,800 Utahns were unemployed in July 2005 compared with 63,400 in July 2004.
"The good news is that we don't see anything that would cause our job growth rate to slow down significantly anytime soon," said Austin Sargent, regional economist for Work Force Services.
Sargent said many Utahns who dropped out of the labor force or took seasonal or part-time jobs during the state's economic downturn have begun looking for full-time permanent jobs. He also said job-seekers from other states, like Adams, have begun responding to job openings in Utah.
The only factor that may slow job growth at some point is higher energy prices, said Mark Knold, senior Workforce Services economist. Higher energy prices continue to be a financial burden to companies in many industries, which may cause some to curtail hiring plans in an effort to cut costs.
"I really don't see oil prices doing anything but going up even more," he said.
Still, he expects employment growth in Utah to continue, especially in some higher-paying sectors such as professional and business services, which include positions such as attorneys, engineers, computer programmers, architects and accountants.
Construction employment continues to rise as residential construction and commercial construction continues to increase.
"There are major projects under way, and there are others yet to begin," Knold said. One large project, for example, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' redevelopment of its downtown malls and surrounding real estate, is expected to provide employment for thousands of people over several years.
The manufacturing industry - shrinking in other parts of the country - continues to grow in Utah, he said.
lesley@sltrib.com
