Jim Robson, regional economist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services, said Tooele County’s unemployment rate has been running at a low 3.6 percent over the past three months. He said that over the same time period, the state average was at 3.2 percent, while the national average was 5.3 percent.
Robson also said Tooele County’s job growth rate was between 4 percent and 4.2 percent from May 2007 to May 2008.
“We’re much better than Salt Lake County and the rest of the state in terms of job growth,” he said. “Salt Lake County’s job growth was only 1.5 percent from May 2007 to the end of May this year, and the state rate over that time was at only around 1.4 percent.”
Carlisle Syntec, a roofing material manufacturer located in the Utah Industrial Depot, was having trouble finding workers last year with statewide unemployment near an all-time low. It even put a help-wanted ad on a large billboard on SR-36 near Stansbury Park. However, since gas prices began to skyrocket this spring, the company has had no shortage of local applicants looking for work closer to home, according to Dave McCall, human resources supervisor for Carlisle, and a member of the Tooele City Council.
“We’ve gotten a lot of people who are interested lately, and I think it’s mostly because of the high gas prices,” McCall said. “People who were driving to Salt Lake for work are now looking to work nearer to home, because the commute is getting so expensive for them. On average we have about 10 to 15 applicants a week, and we’ll also interview someone once a week. It helps that people in the community who want employment locally can see our sign as they commute to work.”
Despite the increase in applicants, McCall said the company is still hiring.
“We’re still short about five or six positions, but we’re still interviewing to fill those positions we need filled,” he said.
On the retail side, Tooele’s Wal-Mart Supercenter has also seen an upswing in job applicants. Greg Hargis, personnel manager for the store, said customer traffic has increased so far this summer, and that rising gas prices have caused locals who used to shop out of town to now shop at Wal-Mart instead because it’s closer to home. Hargis said Wal-Mart’s increase in customers has also created a need for additional employees there.
“The high gas prices have also taken a toll on Wal-Mart employees, because we’ve had a lot of Tooele residents who used to work at Salt Lake-area Wal-Marts transfer to this one, or express interest in transferring here,” said Hargis.
Craig Anderson, general manager of the Syracuse Castings in Tooele, which designs and manufactures cast iron and fabricated access products for construction needs, said his business has also been doing fairly well this summer in terms of filling positions. He said most of the company’s hiring is based on word-of-mouth advertising or acquaintances of current employees.
“We have probably half a dozen people a month ask us about employment, and we’re starting to get a reputation in town as a great place to work,” Anderson said. “We don’t have a heavy flow of people applying, but we’re able to fill the positions we have available. We did have to trim a few employees as the economy went south, but we have a smaller, better crew now and are able to be more efficient than we were last year.”
However, Robson cautions that a slowing national economy is likely to drag down job growth in the county.
“We might see a weakening in job growth because of the housing slowdown, as well as the cost of energy, food and other necessary items going up,” he said. “It all really takes a toll on any family’s budget, and the higher energy prices really take a toll on the economy. Even though Utah has done better than the rest of the nation, our economy is still slowing down somewhat, and the unemployment rate might also drift higher on into the summer months.”
However, Robson also said the new Allegheny Technologies plant in Rowley, which will create 150 jobs at an average salary of $45,000 a year, could mitigate any rise in unemployment.
“We probably won’t see the employment impact until the plant becomes operational next year, but I’m sure a lot of people are applying for those jobs as they come online,” he said.
dougrad@tooeletranscript.com
if your over a certain age forget it - unless you have alot of training for the labor jobs - even then pickings are slim for the older job seekers since they usually want workers with stamina
Personally i think minium wage jobs should not be counted. Tooele doesn't have enough good paying jobs.