Jobs and wages continue to rise modestly in Tooele County, in defiance of a gloomy national employment outlook.
The average Tooele County worker’s wage for the second quarter of 2008 — the most recent data available — went up 2.2 percent compared to the second quarter of 2007, according to Jim Robson, regional economist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
However, Robson cautioned that rise has to be taken in context.
“A growth rate of 2.2 percent isn’t particularly fast, which most likely has to do with the recent softening of the economy,” Robson said. “And the job growth from the second quarter of ’07 to the end of the second quarter of ’08 was only 0.7 percent.”
On the national level, wages have gone up but jobs are decreasing rapidly.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, median weekly earnings of the nation’s 107.2 million full-time wage and salary workers was $720 in the third quarter of 2008, which was 3.6 percent higher than the third quarter of 2007. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that at the end of August 2008, nationwide unemployment rose to 6.1 percent, up from 4.7 percent a year ago. In addition, the U.S. economy has lost around 605,000 jobs since the start of the year.
In contrast, most Tooele County employers say they haven’t reduced employee rolls, hours worked or wages.
Craig Anderson, owner of Syracuse Castings, which designs and manufactures cast iron and fabricated access products for the construction needs of the nation’s western region, said his employees can even expect a pay increase at the start of next year. The company had opened its Tooele branch at the beginning of this year.
“No employee hours are being cut because there is plenty of work for us here,” he said. “The economy hasn’t affected us in terms of business, and we actually have a growing number of workers who are voluntarily working overtime, either because of all the work available or because they want more money.”
Christina Ross, human resources manager for Morton Salt in Grantsville, said work has also been steady at her company, though the company is holding the line on wages.
“Our competitive standard wage level for employees hasn’t been modified since April, and we also haven’t had to lay anyone off,” she said. “We’ve usually only done replacement hiring for people who have left or retired. Things have been pretty stable here.”
Jason Stevens, plant manager for Cargill Salt, said his company’s wages have not made a significant jump since a year ago.
“Our wages have stayed the same for a while, but last year we made a market adjustment with our wages to be more competitive with other local businesses in the market,” he said. “Our facility is doing good right now, even though the economy isn’t, and we’re retaining a lot of our folks.”
Greg Caldwell, general manager for Christensen and Griffith Construction in Tooele, said his company currently has a sufficient amount of employees, and that its business has actually increased throughout the economic downslide.
“We have been drifting toward the busier or stable side of things because of the kind of clients we deal with,” he said. “We deal with chemicals, minerals and metals, and the reason we’re surviving the economy’s negative impact is because we deal with products that are still in demand.”
He also said that the company’s primary client base is what has gotten them through the recent construction slowdown.
“Most of our clients are more service oriented and work with commodities that are still in demand,” Caldwell said. “Very few of them are in homebuilding, retail or commercial type industries.”
Bridger Bolinder, vice president for Bolinder Company in Tooele, said the sagging economy also has had no noticeable effects on the wages or hours of his company’s employees. In fact, he said it has made it easier for him to find more qualified employees.
“A year or two ago we were having to hire anyone who had a pulse, just because unemployment was higher and more places were in business,” Bolinder said. “Now that more companies outside of Tooele County are going through economic troubles, we’re able to find more employees. We’re also able to find more people who are more skilled in our company’s operations.”
Doug Radunich: dougrad@tooeletranscript.com
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