St. George job growth tops nation

St. George is the top U.S city for job growth over the past five years, according to online financial magazine 24/7 Wall St. The booming Southwest Utah community was followed in the ranking by Bend-Redmond, Oregon; Reno, Nevada; the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin area of Tennessee; and Provo.

The website examined the job growth in 20 cities across the country between May 2014 and May 2019. During this time, St. George’s workforce grew 25.7 percent.{mprestriction ids="1,3"} This translated to an additional 15,000 jobs as mid-2019 saw over 74,000 people employed in Washington County versus the mid-2014 figure of 59,000 residents employed. While there has been employment gain across the board, a majority of the St. George gains were in the trade, transportation and utility industries.

Unemployment in St. George was reported at around 2.9 percent, in line with state figures while the national average was at 3.4 percent. Job growth across the nation over the past five years has beeny 7.3 percent. Employment in the cities in 24/7 Wall St.’s leaders rose between 16 percent and 25 percent. All of those cities were in the southern and western United States.

Among the factors listed for the rise in jobs was St. George’s rising population. Earlier this year, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked the St. George metro area as the third-fastest-growing city in the country.{/mprestriction}