The Salt Lake Chamber’s Roadmap to Recovery Coalition, in partnership with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, has released a new economic tool for the business community – the Road to Recovery Dashboard – to track the state’s path to a full and complete economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession.
The Salt Lake Chamber’s primary objective with the new Roadmap to Recovery is to empower the private sector to create jobs and opportunity for individuals and families throughout Utah. In that effort, we are just beginning. We need to see beyond the horizon to view opportunities as they are manifest, so our businesses can make decisions accordingly. The Roadmap to Recovery’s Dashboard will be interactive and dynamic – updated monthly – with actionable intelligence information and analysis.
The Dashboard will provide essential insights, track 10 timely and leading measures, and share salient indicators since the start of the pandemic.
Three essential insights from the September 2020 Roadmap to Recovery Dashboard include:
1. The Utah economy continues to improve, but has a long way to go. Continued weekly unemployment claims peaked at 126,192 on May 2, 2020 and have now declined for 19 consecutive weeks. Continued claims for the week of September 12, 2020 tallied 35,649 showing the Utah economy still has a long way to go. Average weekly claims in 2019 were 8,856.
2. Utah’s unemployment rate of 4.1% is the lowest in the country. This positive news means many furloughed and laid off Utahns are returning to work. Pay close attention, however, as it’s likely during COVID-19 that many Utahns have dropped out of the labor market and are not included in this rate. Economists also warn about estimation difficulties during a pandemic and an economic shock.
3. Construction employment surges as Leisure and Hospitality suffer. Job change by industry varies dramatically. Year-over job growth for August 2020 shows the Leisure/ Hospitality industry suffering through a 16.8% contraction and Natural Resources (energy and mining) declining by 11.5%. Utah’s construction industry, which increased by 7.4%, continues to be Utah’s fastest growing major industry over the past 12 months.
The Roadmap to Recovery Coalition is a business-led coalition, supported by the Salt Lake Chamber, focused on implementing and promoting our economic recovery. The Coalition is co-chaired by Brandon Fugal, Chairman, Colliers International; Mikelle Moore, SVP and Chief Community Health Officer, Intermountain Healthcare; and Scott Parson, President, Western Division, CRH Americas Materials, Inc.
Investors of the Coalition include WCF Insurance, Deseret Management Corporation, Intermountain Healthcare, and Staker Parson Materials & Construction. To get involved, please contact Heidi Walker at [email protected].
Click HERE to see the September dashboard.
