Utah’s 3.3 percent job-growth rate in March was the Nation’s Best
sltrib.com
Leticia Longoria changes a corner room’s linen at the new AC Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, Friday, April 20, 2018. Hotels and other lodging properties had 11 percent more employees last month than in the previous March, helping to lead Utah to a 3.3 percent year-over-year job growth rate, the best in the nation. Photo by Scott Sommerdorf.
Utah’s 3.3 percent job-growth rate in March was the nation’s best, fueled by businesses like the new AC Hotel in Salt Lake City.
Article by Scott Sommerdorf | www.sltrib.com
When the AC Hotel opened its doors March 21 in downtown Salt Lake City, 45 newly hired people were on staff to handle the needs of guests at the Marriott brand with its minimalist, European style.
These front-desk greeters, sales people and housekeepers were part of an employment surge at hotels and other providers of overnight accommodations that helped lift Utah to an overall 3.3 percent growth rate in March.
“That is beyond healthy,” AC Hotel General Manager Jared Steere, a 15-year industry veteran, impressed by the magnitude of the state’s numbers but not surprised “given how things are shaping up in the market.”
No other state in the country did better last month.
Idaho was next best at 3.1 percent.
That 3.3 percent growth rate translated into 48,000 more jobs in Utah last month than in March of 2017, increasing the state’s nonfarm employment total to 1,501,800 — the first time the 1.5 million threshold has been crossed.
Any time anyone builds something new, it’s a curiosity. The fact that this is a Marriott property helped, but AC also is a distinctive brand perceived as sexy.
Holding our unemployment count under 50,000 is evidence of the alignment between our employers’ needs and the skills of our workforce.
I enjoyed being part of the Courtyard’s opening and was looking for a new job, so I was excited to be part of something different, a new brand in Salt Lake.
