A story published 8 November in Newsweek labeled Utah “the new economic Zion.” The article highlights Utah’s capacity to attract new businesses and prosper during a recession.
One reason for Utah’s economic muscle, Newsweek said, is the state’s religious population.
“Utah’s people are, indeed, an employer’s dream," the article said. "They are healthy, hard workers (pouring in 48 hours a week on average), and exceedingly stable, with the highest birthrates in the nation. The large number of young Mormons who spend two years on a conversion mission also means a huge swath of the population earned its sales stripes in hostile terrain.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints counsels its members to live a healthy lifestyle and become self-sufficient through hard work. The Church’s missionary program allows young men and women to live away from home for 18 to 24 months, work every day from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and possibly learn a foreign language.
Read “Promised Land: How Utah became the new economic Zion.”