Utah surpasses pre-recession industrial employment levels

Utah industrial employers added 3,837 job over the past year, a 2.3 percent increase, according to the 2017 Utah Manufacturers Directory, an industrial database and directory published by Manufacturers’ News Inc. (MNI) of Evanston, Illinois. The increase means Utah now has more factory jobs than it had prior to the Great Recession.

Utah industrial employers added 3,837 job over the past year, a 2.3 percent increase, according to the 2017 Utah Manufacturers Directory, an industrial database and directory published by Manufacturers’ News Inc. (MNI) of Evanston, Illinois. The increase means Utah now has more factory jobs than it had prior to the Great Recession.

Utah’s 3,540 manufacturers employ 174,171 in the state, reported MNI. Since September of 2010, the state has added 23,812 jobs, a 16 percent increase.

“Utah boasts one of the most favorable regulatory climates in the nation and its overall business costs are low. This, combined with a skilled labor pool and abundance of shovel-ready sites, has helped the state recover all jobs lost during the recession — and then some,” said Tom Dubin, resident of the publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. “However, global competition and a strong dollar will continue to challenge growth in the years ahead.”

According to MNI, Utah’s chemicals industry was the star of this year’s survey, increasing by 7 percent.

Food processing ranks as the state’s largest sector by employment with 19,454 jobs, up 3.3 percent, and second-ranked electronics accounts for 17,375, down 1 percent. Third-ranked chemical processing employs 17,083, up 7 percent.

Manufacturing job gains in Utah were spread out across most sectors, with furniture/fixtures up 10.6 percent, transportation equipment up 10 percent, instruments/related products up 6.7 percent; lumber/wood up 6.7 percent, rubber/plastics up 6.4 percent, primary metals up 2.9 percent and paper products up 1.9 percent.

Gains were offset by losses in the state’s industrial machinery sector, which reported a 4.1 percent decline. Employment also declined in the fabricated metals industry, down 3.7 percent, according to MNI.

City data collected by MNI shows Salt Lake City ranks first in the state for number of manufacturing jobs, with 55,673 workers, up 3.8 percent.