Unemployment in Tooele County continues to drop, but one local assistance agency has not seen relief.
The county’s unemployment rate for May 2014 was 4.4 percent, according to a report released last week by the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
This is the third consecutive month that the county’s unemployment rate has dropped. It was 4.6 percent in April. In May 2013 the rate was 5.2 percent.
The state’s unemployment rate also dipped to 3.6 percent in May, down from 3.8 percent in April. The state’s May 2013 unemployment rate was 4.5 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate stood steady in May at 6.3 percent, the same as April, but down from the 7.5 percent of May 2013.
The statewide drop in May’s unemployment was driven by the addition of 37,500 jobs compared to May 2013 with all ten private industry sectors posting job increases over last May. Local employment figures by sector for the first quarter of the year will available towards the end of the month, according to Jim Robson, DWS regional economist.
However, preliminary data shows Tooele County’s job market lost 54 jobs when comparing May 2014 to May 2013 — a 0.3 percent loss, according to Robson.
“Tooele County’s unemployment rate continues to drop as a result of people finding work outside of the county,” he said.
The relatively small job loss of 0.3 percent is encouraging, according to Robson, who holds out hope that by the end of the year the county may see a slight increase in jobs.
While Tooele County’s 4.4 percent unemployment rate for May is the lowest since September 2008, the Tooele Food Bank remains busy helping families.
“On a typical day we see 30 families,” said Lorri Cook, Tooele Food Bank director. “On a busy day that number jumps to 65.”
The food bank adds an average of 12 new families per week, she said.
While not all families served by the food bank return for assistance on a regular basis, the number of families served increases each week, according to Cook.
“People are telling us they may be working but they aren’t making as much as they used to,” Cook added. “After the house payment, utilities, and expenses to get to their job in Salt Lake County, they don’t have anything left over for food.”
Many of the food bank’s new clients are people that left Tooele County to find work and then lost their job.
“They are moving back to Tooele County to live with family,” she said. “The unemployment rate may be going down, by we haven’t seen any relief.”
There are eight out of 29 counties in Utah with a May 2014 unemployment rate higher than Tooele County’s. The county with the highest unemployment rate is Wayne County with 9.5 percent. The lowest unemployment rate in Utah for May 2014 was Rich County’s 2.4 percent.