Utah's job growth numbers continue to sizzle, with retail trade and construction posting the biggest employment gains as strong in-migration helped ease a tight labor market, the State Department of Workforce Services reported Tuesday.

Utah's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.6 percent in June, down from 2.9 percent a year ago. About 35,300 Utahns were unemployed in June compared with 38,100 last year. Nationally, the U.S. economy added 2 million new jobs in June, up 1.4 percent from a year ago.

"We can maintain this level of growth while having a low unemployment rate because of strong levels of in-migration coming in from other parts of the country or overseas. Ironically, the overall tepid U.S. economy is sending workers to Utah and other parts of the western United States, where the jobs are perceived to be," said Mark Knold, chief economist for Workforce Services.

The number of non-farm payrolls in Utah grew 4.5 percent, or by 55,100 new jobs in June, from a year ago, raising total wage and salary employment in Utah to 1.27 million. This translates to around 4,600 new jobs created on a monthly basis in Utah over the past year.

Construction continues to lead in employment gains, with 13,500 new jobs created over the past year. Retail continues to drive employment gains in trade, transportation and utilities, a sector that added more than 10,000 new jobs.

"Much of the construction growth of the past three years has been for commercial e.g. retail, industrial and other nonresidential demand. Once these structures are complete, business assumes ownership and fills these establishments with workers; many of them new workers," Knold said.

"Retail trade has built aggressively over the past year, and as a result, we are seeing a dramatic upswing in retail trade employment that began in the latter quarter of last year. So even though construction might be tempering just a bit, other industries are ramping up their employment as they utilize all the new square footage brought on line," he said.

Strong in-migration has fueled job gains in construction and retail trade since Utah emerged from the recession in late 2003, Knold said.

"First came a surge in home-building to accommodate new residents and Utah's maturing 20-something population, then followed an up-tick in retail trade establishments to service these new consumers and to eagerly collect their dollars," he said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D4.