By Del Leonard Jones
Groggs Pinnacle Brewing Co. in Carbonville had been open seven days per week for 25 years until two weeks ago when it shut down on Sunday and Monday due to a scarcity of employees.
It reopened on Sundays but remains closed on Mondays and owner Marty Beckman said he would hire six more waiters, dishwashers and cooks if he could find them.
“It’s extremely difficult,” said Beckman, who pays experienced cooks $20 an hour. “Everybody’s in the same boat.”
The national unemployment rate ticked up to 5.9 percent in June from 5.8 percent in May even though the economy added a better-than-expected 850,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.
Carbon County’s unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in May, down from 3.8 percent in April and 4.0 percent in March, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services. Utah’s rate has fallen from 7.6 percent to 2.7 percent over the past year.
The Carbon County unemployment rate never increased as drastically. It was 6.5 percent one year ago at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when the U.S. unemployment rate was 13.3 percent.
Beckman said it’s been difficult to fill open positions for the last decade, but Groggs was fully staffed before the pandemic. Groggs is serving more customers than it was two years ago in 2019 despite having fewer tables, he said.
McDonald’s guest counts in Price are up in 2021 versus 2019. “We have real growth as compared to pre-pandemic traffic,” said spokeswoman Kaydee Manes. “Drive-thru has been critical to our survival. We are excited to be offering delivery with Door Dash in Price.”
Door Dash will employ contract workers to deliver restaurant food to homes and businesses.
Carbon County’s June unemployment rate will be released July 19.