A year ago, commuters were being enticed by billboards along SR-36 to come work for local manufacturing companies and avoid the daily trip into Salt Lake City. With unemployment in Tooele County hovering around 3 percent then, it was employers who were scurrying to find workers.

What a difference a year makes.

“It all started falling apart during the last half of 2008,” said James Robson, regional economist with the State Department of Workforce Services, referring to the employment situation. “Obviously Tooele County has been affected by the overall condition of the state and nation.”

By December 2008, unemployment in Tooele County had risen to 4.4 percent. Still, with the national unemployment rate at 7.2 percent, according to Robson, it appeared Tooele County made it through 2008 sheltered from the worst of the economic storm.

But several leading indicators are painting a bleaker employment picture in the months ahead.

Claims for initial unemployment benefits at the Department of Workforce Services Tooele office in December 2008 were up 99 percent over the previous year to 459, compared to 230 in December 2007. January 2009 initial claims for unemployment benefits were up 83 percent, with 377 claims filed last month compared to 206 in January 2008.

With around 40 percent of Tooele County residents traveling outside the county for work, according to Robson, the unemployment rate in the county is heavily connected to the Wasatch Front’s labor market. And that market has not been good. Salt Lake County recorded a 2.5 percent net decline in total non-farm jobs in 2008.

Though the net number of non-farm jobs in Tooele County actually increased in 2008 by 0.9 percent over 2007, workforce specialists say that’s not enough to cover the net increase in the workforce and county residents who’ve lost out-of-county jobs.

“Manufacturing jobs statewide and nationally will continue to feel pressure throughout 2009,” Robson said.

The county has already seen evidence of this trend with the recent layoff of 54 workers at US Magnesium and the loss of more than 20 jobs with the closure of Chemical Lime in Grantsville.

However, there may also be some bright spots on the horizon.

“Depending on growth in students and the state budget, Tooele County can expect to see an increase in public education employment,” Robson said. “Health care and recreation/leisure are also areas that may increase employment.”

Nicole Cline, economic development director for Tooele County, remains cautiously optimistic about the employment outlook.

“We still have employers and businesses that are looking at coming to Tooele,” Cline said. “Many have contacted me and said their plans are on hold depending on the economy and what happens with the stimulus package. But they have not pulled out nor canceled plans altogether.”

Tooele County is planning on opening a small business resource center in March — a move that may help some employed people turn their fate around.

“In some cases, people who have been unemployed out of necessity become creative and end up starting a home business that takes off,” Cline said. “The small business resource center will provide the kind of help that can make those opportunities a reality.”

Cline also sees resilience and hope for the county during this most recent economic downturn.

“When the army downsized the depot, people said Tooele would die. Some people literally fled town and left their homes behind,” Cline said. “We rebounded from that and are stronger than before. Now we have much more diversity. Back then our economy was dominated by one single employer: the military. Today we have a good mixture of employers, which will help us weather this storm.”

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com