Utah’s labor market took a turn for the better in August, although the improvement was limited.
Statewide, the unemployment rate slipped to 5.8 percent after remaining unmoved at 6 percent for four consecutive months, the Department of Workforce Services said Friday.
At the same time, the number of employed workers was 2 percent higher than a year ago, for a 12-month increase of 24,300 jobs. The rate of year-over-year job growth was unchanged from July and the slowest since June 2011, underlining the deceleration in momentum that began in January.
"The amount of job growth that we have been able to produce, coming from the bottom of the recession until now, has topped out," Mark Knold, the department’s chief economist said, adding that significant improvements aren’t likely for the rest of 2012.
Standing in the way are uncertainties about the presidential election and worries about whether Congress will do anything to resolve the looming "fiscal cliff" tied to tax increases and spending cuts, which has businesses wondering what the tax climate in 2013 will be like.
"It’s just bumped into a ceiling, and we are not going to get it to go beyond the current growth levels until we get some of these questions answered," Knold said. Salt LakeTribune
