Governor: Utah Economy Will "Do Just Fine" in Long-Term

Mar 31, 2008 by Jeff Robinson

(KCPW News) Although he remains upbeat about the Utah economy, Governor Jon Huntsman says he acknowledges that the state is tied to the rest of the nation, which is experiencing a downturn. Still, while job growth has continued to decline in recent months, he predicts we won't experience an overall job loss.

"I suspect our job growth number, which is a fairly important measure of one's productivity as an economy, will always be in the positive territory," he said. "We might slip down to one, maybe one-and-a-half percent, down from a high of four percent, while probably 45 of the 50 states are going to be in negative territory."

The governor believes unemployment probably won't rise past four percent in Utah, while the rest of the nation is experiencing five percent or more in unemployment.

Governor Huntsman says he's concerned about overtly negative media reports about the economy, calling them inaccurate. He says they can have a bad impact on Utah consumers.

"That leads to people thinking that you're moving in a negative direction, which has a psychological impact on the economy," he said. "People don't get out and participate as much; they don't spend as much. They think in bleaker terms."

The governor says Utah will "do just fine" in the long-term. He made these remarks at his monthly press conference on Friday.

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