OCR Text |
Show Unemployment drops for seventh month The unemployment rate for March is forecasted at 6.6 percent, according to David Turner, manager of the Heber office of Job Service. The March rate was a drop of three tenths of a percent from the February rate of 6.9 percent. The February figure was originally forecasted at 7.2 percent but was revised when all the data was tabulated. With the revision of the figures, the unemployment rate for Summit County has dropped for the past seven months. Turner says a leveling off is possible, but foresees a downward trend through the summer. The 1984 figures continue to show an improvement over 1983. The March '83 rate was 8.3 percent, 1.7 percent per-cent higher than '84. For the state as a whole, the forecast for March is 5.7 percent, a slight rise from February's 5.6 percent. The rate for the United States stayed at 7.8 percent for the second month in a row. Turner says the unemployment rate for April may show an increase with ParkWest and Deer Valley closing on April 22. But he says the increase will not be drastic. Having an impact on the April rate will be the start of the construction season. Turner says the ground currently is too wet for most construction activity to begin, but dry weather would mean that many projects already on line could start up. |