Utah economy weak; Shows signs of life

NORTH LOGAN (Herald Journal) — Utah is showing signs of recovering from the worst economic situation since the 1930s, but unemployment and foreclosures will probably continue to rise for some time.

That was the message from James Woods, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah. Woods spoke at the annual What’s Goin’ Down Up North business summit held Thursday on Utah State University’s Innovation Campus. The event focuses on how to boost economic development in Cache, Franklin, Rich and Box Elder counties.

At the beginning of his talk, Woods warned that “some of the numbers are good, but most of the numbers are bad” when it comes to the state economy.

“We do follow national trends — when you hear good nationally, that will ultimately benefit Utah,” he added. “We are going to have a recovery, but it will be a slow recovery because the national recovery will be slow.”

On the positive side, Woods said housing prices have “touched bottom.” For 27 months, Utah had a decline of single-family home construction and real estate sales. The numbers finally picked up in June and have been positive since then.

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