Brief Iron County Economic Update

The last set of employment figures show Iron County continuing to flirt with employment growth while failing to make a firm commitment to economic recovery. Since 2012, the county’s year-to-year change in nonfarm jobs has hovered around the no-change line—some months adding employment and losing jobs in others. Recently released preliminary nonfarm job data show Iron County with a slight employment gain in June 2012.

• Between June 2011 and June 2012, Iron County showed a net gain of nearly 100 jobs (up 0.7 percent).

• The entire quarter showed a mixed bag of results. Jobs in April 2012 dropped a minute amount compared to April 2011 totals, while jobs were up in both May and June. However, Iron County has moved into job creation territory before—only to take a step backward in the next quarter.

• The county’s goods-producing industries—mining, manufacturing, and construction—all showed slight contraction in the second quarter of 2012. In addition, professional/business services (the source of most “temp” jobs) also took a substantial hit in June.

• However, net job gains did outweigh net job losses. Wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation/warehousing, leisure/hospitality and the public sector generated more than 30 new jobs each between June 2011 and June 2012.

• Iron County’s jobless continued to trend downward. With limited employment expansion, the declining unemployment rate suggests that workers have either left the area or the labor market. At 7.2 percent, Iron County’s August jobless rate does register below the comparable national unemployment rate (8.1 percent) but considerably higher than the state figure (5.6 percent).

• Construction permitting activity remains stagnant. However, new home permits held steady for the first six months of 2012. Although the current figures do not signal growth, they do mark the first time since the recession began that new home permits in Iron have not contracted. If this trend continues, it should portend a better housing market in the months ahead. Overall, construction values are down roughly 17 percent January to June 2012 when compared with the same time period in 2011.

• Sales continue to rank as the best economic indicator for Iron County. Second quarter 2012 gross taxable sales increased by 4 percent compared to the previous year marking the fourth straight quarter of improving figures. In addition, cars sales almost doubled in the second quarter of 2012 as consumers acted on pent-up demand.

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