Duchesne jobless rate

    '09 August     7.2%
    '09 June        7.5%
    '09 February   5.2%
    '08 August     2.4%

Duchesne County's unemployment rate has dropped a bit in the last two months, but remains significantly higher compared with last year's jobless figure.

The state Department of Workforce Services recorded a 7.2 percent unemployment rate for August, down a few points from the June rate of 7.5 percent in Duchesne County but drastically higher than the 2.4 percent rate from the same month last year.

As of the end of August, there were 9,987 people in Duchesne County with jobs, out of a total labor force of 10,767. A year earlier, there were 10,276 job-holders within a 10,531-person labor force. The labor force fluctuates as people move in and out of the area.

Despite the sliver of good news, make no mistake: The county is steeped in the recession that is gripping the rest of the state and nation. The state and national jobless rates in August were 6 percent and 9.7 percent respectively.

“It's better that the (county) rate is going down instead of up,” said Irene Hansen, director of the Duchesne County Area Chamber of Commerce.“I think it would be accurate to say that we're holding our own. And right now, that means everything.”

Hansen said it's likely that severe losses in oil industry jobs over the year were marginally offset by summer seasonal employment. There were some late-summer construction jobs, as well as tourism activity, that helped boost business in the county.

“The summer jobs helped fill the void,” she said. “It will be interesting to see if that continues as we get further away from traditional summer employment.
Local business people are continually bringing good news to her office, she said.

L&L Motors holds a grand-opening for its new Roosevelt location on Oct. 29. Moon Lake Electric is nearing completion of its new building. A few small businesses are opening in the area, including the Cynthia Center for the Fine Arts, which will be fully operational within a month.

Hansen said she believes oil-and-gas companies, while leaner and not as busy as a year ago, are experiencing a slight increase in business. “At least there is some movement,” she said.

But then there are the many Basin business owners and managers who tell her that sales are down 40 to 50 percent.

And the local real estate market is still in a slump, especially with regard to upper-end homes.

Lynn Snow, who operates a Century 21 office in Roosevelt, said that since the recession hit the Basin, many houses that initially were valued and listed for sale at $250,000 or higher are being sold for much less.

In both Duchesne and Uintah counties, “short sales” – houses selling at a price that is less than the mortgage amount – are becoming increasingly common.
“They're cutting their losses,” he said of sellers. “The upper end of the market is stressed.”

There is some new building activity, Snow said, but it is in the $225,000-and-under market. Primarily, new-home construction is being fueled by first-time homebuyers seeking to take advantage of new federal tax credits.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 expanded the first-time homebuyer credit by increasing the credit amount to $8,000 for purchases made in 2009 before Dec. 1. It reduces a homebuyer's tax bill or increases a refund, dollar for dollar.

Also, it is fully refundable, meaning the credit will be paid out to eligible taxpayers even if they owe no tax.

But the new activity in home construction is not offsetting the increasing number of foreclosures.

“We haven't had this many foreclosures since the late 1980s,” Snow said, estimating that during the oil-related recession of 1989, 75 percent of home sales involved foreclosed properties.

“We're not there by a long way, but they are picking up,” he said. “So far, this downturn is nothing like the nightmare of the one in the 1980s.”

Snow said experience taught him that the most-recent oil boom would not last. “Honestly, it was a little bit out of control and unreal,” he said of the local economy and real-estate activity two years ago.

He said the economy and real-estate market will rebound eventually.

While negative news may be outweighing the positives right now, Hansen still sees reason for hope. The Basin is faring better than many other parts of the country, where jobless rates are hitting double-digits, business bankruptcies are the norm rather than the exception and economic markets are in panic mode.

The key for local businesses in riding out the economic storm is to try to fill whatever voids exist and to remain aggressive, she said. She cited Strata Networks and Uintah Basin Medical Center as examples of companies that are doing just that.

“I'm really excited because I'm seeing people clamoring for things and trying to to get involved,” she said. “Whenever there are challenges there are new opportunities.”