Tooele County’s job outlook may be brightening somewhat after a dark two-year period of high unemployment and slight job growth.

Though the county’s unemployment rate remains relatively high at 7.7 percent as of April, according to data from the Department of Workforce Services, officials report job losses appear to have tapered off and some industries are starting to show growth.

“We are not out of the woods yet, but there is reason for cautious optimism,” said Mark Knold, senior economist for the Department of Workforce Services. “While job loss has not stopped, it has slowed down to the point where we are starting to see more gain than loss, resulting in slow growth.”

Utah lost 63,500 jobs in 2009 — the most job losses in the post World War II era, according to the Department of Workforce Services. However, most of those losses occurred in the first nine months of 2009 and have tapered off significantly since then.

Tooele County started January 2009 with 15,225 jobs and ended the year with 15,522 jobs for a net gain of 297 jobs by year end, or a 1.9 percent increase.

According to Tooele County Economic Development Director Nicole Cline the economic development efforts of Tooele County and its cities are paying off. Several large projects created new jobs in 2009, including Allegheny Technologies, which brought on staff as they ramped up to start production of titanium sponge at their Rowley plant, and Reckitt-Benckiser, which opened a 680,000-square-foot distribution center.

However, the county still has around 40 percent of its population traveling into Salt Lake City and other places along the Wasatch Front where jobs aren’t being created.

‘We add a job here and one is lost there,” said Cline. “Statistically it looks good for us, but somebody has still lost a job.”

One of the fields that has shown growth consistently through out the recession has been health care. In 2009, health care employment in Tooele County grew by 14 percent, according to the Department of Workforce Services.

According to Doug Sagers, director of business development for Mountain West Medical Center, that growth should continue.

“We hired four new physicians last year and are looking to hire another four this year,” said Sagers. “With each new physician comes the need for additional staff to support them. Also, as we complete the new women’s center and increase our surgical capacity, we will be hiring additional staff. It was a good year for us and the future looks good as well.”

Also showing an increase in employment for Tooele County in 2009 was professional and business services, which grew by 9.7 percent. Business and professional services include employment agencies that provide temporary services to businesses.

“Statewide we have seen an increase in temporary employment,” Knold said. “This is a good sign. As businesses start to grow again they reach out to temporary services until they are confident that the improvement is going to be long term, then they can convert the temporary workers into full time.”

Mining jobs in the county grew by 53 jobs last year — a 278 percent increase over the previous year.

But those gains were offset by job losses in some big sectors of the local economy.

Construction lost 16 percent of its jobs, and manufacturing was down 8 percent in 2009, while retail trade was virtually unchanged.

Job losses in those first two sectors pack a double whammy, since they pay higher wages.

The average monthly income for a manufacturing job in 2009 in Tooele County was $3,677, and construction job pay averaged $2,820 per month. The average monthly wage in Tooele for 2009 was $3,292. Though retail didn’t suffer job loses, the jobs it kept, at an average monthly income of $1,731, can’t compete with the loss of higher-paying jobs.

Some local employers have defied the recession and have been growing. Dugway Proving Grounds announced the expansion of its mission to include the development of unmanned aircraft. Dugway officials anticipated this would bring an additional 250 civilian contractors and employees to Tooele County.

Tooele County School District has continued to see growth in enrollment, though the rate of hiring has diminished with budget reductions due to lower state revenues. However, with the opening of a new high school last year and a new Community Learning Center this year, the district continues to create jobs.

The local job market will also be impacted by a wave of recent graduates looking for work.

At Utah State University’s Tooele Regional Campus, Suzanne Anderson works as an academic counselor and advises graduates that are seeking employment.

“The first thing I tell them is there are no guarantees in this economy,” Anderson said.

USU has a great reputation for placing grads from its elementary education and business programs, but employment in those areas too has slowed down, Anderson said.

Anderson said grads are finding work locally in the fields of social work, hospitals and nursing.

“Everything today requires an education,” Anderson said. “We even get requests for truck drivers that require an associates degree.”

According to Knold, barring any unforeseen incidents, like problems in Europe, a spike in oil prices, or a war breaking out, the economy is back on track for improvement, albeit slow.

“We are back on a healing path. This year should set us up for continued growth in 2011 and 2012,” Knold said. “It will take time — the wound was deep.”

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com