Utah’s economic secret: population growth

Utah’s economic secret: population growth

Utah’s secret is out: The state’s economy has grown faster than the country has since 2010. The key factor? A rapidly growing labor force.

We have spectacular scenery, a benign climate, and ready access to a wide variety of outdoor activities. Those assets have been turned into an economic success story by a welcoming business climate and — most importantly — a rapidly growing, well educated workforce.

Utah has had the fastest-growing labor force of any U.S. state since January 2010 — a key ingredient for economic growth and one that provides an example for the nation as a whole as our country hopes to extend its recent expansion.

The state’s labor force — the number of people age 16 and over holding or seeking a job — has grown an average of 1.9 percent a year from 2010 through January 2018, more than triple the nation’s 0.6 percent pace, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

More workers generate more output. Income and consumer spending increase in parallel. These factors attract more employers and workers, fueling a virtuous cycle of growth.

The state’s economy has expanded an average of 2.8 percent a year since 2010, the year after the recession ended, outperforming the U.S. rate of 2.2 percent, according to the Commerce Department. Utah is on a roll, leaving much of the rest of the country behind.

Harvard University professor Dale Jorgenson specializes in estimating an economy’s growth potential. He notes, “Utah is a lesson to the rest of the country that demographics are quite important.”

Utah registered the highest birthrate among states again last year. Large families are encouraged by both The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Catholic Church, whose combined membership makes up a large majority of the state’s population.

Utah’s large families are often criticized by those who see them as a burden on the public purse. Instead of a burden, children from Utah’s strong families are a major asset since they give the state a large supply of young workers with strong local ties.

Utah also has strong rates of immigration from other states and countries. In 2017, almost half its population growth came from people moving in, fleeing states like California. Many new arrivals come because Utah is especially attractive for families with multiple children.

Population growth alone doesn’t guarantee growth unless the would-be workers have job skills. Utah’s workforce is more educated on average than the rest of the country’s, making it more productive and thus attractive to many employers.

This well educated labor pool has helped nurture a blossoming tech sector, much of it based in the Silicon Slopes area around Salt Lake City, Provo, and Park City. Southern Utah is beginning to see a tech spillover as companies are drawn to our unique surroundings and lifestyle.

Despite frequent complaints about the quality of Utah public education, our students score well on the ACT, and we have a high percentage of adults with college degrees.

Many factors affect growth, including business regulation, access to financing, and the quality of educational institutions. Employers say Utah is attractive on all these fronts.

The U.S. Census Bureau projects that the nation’s older people are expected to outnumber children by 2030. In contrast, Utah is likely to be an island of prosperity in a country slowed by too few workers supporting its rapidly growing elderly population.

So when you see young families with armloads of kids, thank them for our booming economy, one that is likely to continue leading the nation in economic opportunity.

The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.

How to submit an article, guest opinion piece, or letter to the editor to The Independent

Do you have something to say? Want your voice to be heard by thousands of readers? Send The Independent your letter to the editor or guest opinion piece. All submissions will be considered for publication by our editorial staff. If your letter or editorial is accepted, it will run on suindependent.com, and we’ll promote it through all of our social media channels. We may even decide to include it in our monthly print edition. Just follow our simple submission guidelines and make your voice heard:

Articles related to “Utah’s economic secret: population growth”

PETA and FDA launch joint “Spay and Neuter Your Neighbors” program

Human population growth: Is the explosion a blessing or a curse?

California’s solution to overpopulation and inequality? More immigration.