Second quarter employment in the Wasatch Front North (WFN) region grew 2.7 percent from 2013 to 2014. The WFN increased employment at almost the same rate as the rest of the state, which grew 2.8 percent over the same period. In total, the region added 5,611 nonfarm payroll jobs year-over-year for a quarterly average of 213,346. Annual growth in the WFN slowed a bit from the 2.8 percent rate in the first quarter of 2014.
Second-quarter total nonfarm employment in Weber County increased 2.2 percent year-over-year. Total county employment in the second quarter was 96,963, a 2,050 job increase from the same period in 2013.
Private goods-producing employment increased 6.2 percent, or 1,070 jobs, from the second quarter of 2013. Manufacturing added 454 jobs, taking this industry’s employment from 12,361 in 2013 to 12,815 in 2014. Construction’s job total was 5,392 in the second quarter or 582 more jobs than a year earlier.
Private service-providing employment added 1,121 jobs, a growth rate of 2 percent from the previous year. The trade/transportation/utilities and educational/healthcare/social services industries increased employment by 534 and 300 jobs, respectively.
Government employment shrank 0.7 percent from the second quarter of 2013 to the second quarter of 2014. State and local governments added 55 and 30 positions respectively, while federal government lost a total of 226 jobs (declining 3.4 percent).
September’s unemployment rate for Weber County was 4.1 percent. Over the last year, the county unemployment rate has fallen 0.7 percentage points. Weber County was 0.6 percentage points higher than the state average in September.
On average, the number of initial unemployment claims filed per week in the second quarter (154) decreased by 16 claims from 2013 to 2014.
Second-quarter taxable sales in the county increased 5.1 percent from 2013 to 2014. In the second quarter of 2014 taxable sales were approximately $913.7 million, which was an increase of approximately $44 million from the previous year.
