Construction jobs in Utah are 39 percent off the state's pre-recession peak in 2007, but the numbers are gradually improving with a growth rate of 2.5 percent during the past year, according to a contractors trade group monitoring the rates.Residential contractors in Utah have been stuck behind a backlog of homes already on the market. "The issue now with residential is the inventory," said John Mathews, an economist with the Department of Workforce Services. "We have to clear the inventory before we can move on." Deseret News
