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Industry News and Information

Where the Jobs Are: Phoenix and Salt Lake City

William Frierson AvatarWilliam Frierson
November 11, 2011


Salt Lake City, Utah is a better bet for job hunters than Phoenix, Arizona, according to Going Global’s new reports “Where the Jobs Are: Phoenix and Salt Lake City”. While Salt Lake City has been fairly insulated from the global economic downturn, Phoenix, which was heavily reliant on the construction industry, has seen its unemployment rate more than double since the recession began.

“Utah’s steady economy through the national recession has made it the envy of the nation,” says Mary Anne Thompson, founder of Going Global. “Salt Lake City boasts one of the nation’s lowest unemployment rates and at least eight major industries fuel the local economy.”

The factors that helped Salt Lake City thrive during a recession include the city’s shift from manual labor to white-collar work, which generally pays better, and recent efforts to revitalize the downtown area, which has helped the local construction industry stay afloat.

Academia often thrives during times of economic hardship and this recession is no exception. Most of the state’s institutions of higher education are located in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, with over 20,000 local residents employed at the University of Utah alone. Salt Lake City is also the industrial banking center of the nation and it is one of the few states to allow industrial loan companies to do business, resulting in 15,000 industrial banking jobs. Other major sectors providing employment in Salt Lake City include government, health care, tourism, and transportation.

Unfortunately Phoenix — where half of all construction workers lost their jobs as the local housing market ground to a halt — has been hard hit by the recession. Arizona’s heavy reliance on the real estate industry has had a rippling effect on Arizona’s other industries, and has caused Phoenix’s overall economy to struggle. However, things may be looking up for Phoenix’s beleaguered construction industry. The growing field of renewable energy production is creating a need for new manufacturing facilities and local construction and design companies are stepping up to the plate.

In addition to a hard-hit construction industry, Phoenix’s financial industry has also stumbled in the wake of the nation’s banking shakedown. There are 11,000 fewer financial workers in the Phoenix metro area today than there were three years ago.

On the bright side, employment in the tourism industry is up 3% over last year and the health care industry in Phoenix has grown in proportion to its expanding retirement communities.

“Although Phoenix’s economic recovery will be painfully slow, net job growth is expected to climb 2% this year,” says Thompson. “Manufacturing, finance, tourism, and health care sectors are all starting to show some growth. We are hopeful that the hiring picture will soon improve in Phoenix and throughout the global economy.”

A former White House attorney and advisor to President Ronald Reagan and Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole, Mary Anne Thompson is an internationally recognized expert on global careers.  She founded Going Global (www.goinglobal.com) and has created and managed numerous overseas employment initiatives for the U.S. Department of State, to assist their more than 10,000 overseas family members with identifying and obtaining jobs. She has also trained State Department staff who provide career-counseling services for family members on overseas missions. Mary Anne was nominated by former President George Bush to the U.S. Small Business Advisory Council in recognition of her many entrepreneurial activities.

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