OCR Text |
Show I Comp ! News File Box 631G (' fj Lincoln, Keb, 6C506 ' ' Business activity in Grand ; I county increased by 30.9 ! as, year, according to a study just released by Utah Foundation, Founda-tion, the private research I organization. This compares Uth an increase of 12.0 in I ,ss business volume for the ' (state as a whole in 1975. I A large part of the increased I d0nar sales volume last year, I however, was due to inflation. According to the report, the consumer's price index rose by 9.1 in 1975. When adjustments adjust-ments are made for rising prices the net gain for the state last year amounted to 2.6. This represented a considerable consider-able improvement over the 0.7 net gain recorded in the state for 1974 and was better than the national gain of 0.9 last year. The Foundation report shows that gross sales in Grand County last year, as measured by local sales tax collections, amounted to $31,653,000. This compares with total business activity of $24,184,000 in 1974, $20,158,-000 $20,158,-000 in 1970, and $13,774,000 in 1965. During the past fifteen years, sales volumes in Utah (after adjustments for higher prices) increased by 82, or an average of 4.1 per year. The report points out that the largest gain occurred in 1972 when adjusted sales volumes in the state rose by 12.6. The smallest gain, on the other hand, was registered in 1967 when the increase amounted to only 0.2. Foundation analysts observe that the increase in adjusted sales volume since 1970 has averaged 6.6 despite the recession of 1974-75. This rate of increase is considerably higher than that recorded during the preceding decade. In other words, the Foundation Founda-tion analysis would indicate that a strong growth pattern has emerged for Utah in the 1970's. This new growth trend, however, was temporar ily restrained by the recent economic recession experienced experi-enced throughout the nation. The report shows that the largest percentage gains in business activity last year were recorded in counties with extensive coal and mineral development. For example, the increased volume of business activity in 1975 amounted to 126 in Emery County, 38 in Carbon County, 36 in Iron County, 31 in Grand County, and 30 in Morgan County. More than half of all business activity in Utah is concentrated in Salt Lake County, with nearly half of the Salt Lake County total emanating emanat-ing from Salt Lake City proper. During recent years, however, there has been some shifting of business activity away from the central business district to the suburban areas. Between 1965 and 1975, the dollar' .. volume of business activity in I Salt Lake City rose 106,. compared with an increase of 234 in the suburban areas of i . the county. The change is!, explained by the movement of 1 -. population from the city into the county together with the construction of large shopping ' malls in the suburban areas of the county. |