Utah's unemployment rate is rising, but that doesn't mean those who are searching for work are rushing out to take on the lower-paying jobs typically filled by immigrant laborers.

The reason is simple.

Utahns out of work as a result of the national economic downturn often find they can bring in more each week collecting unemployment benefits than holding down a minimum-wage job.

"We may be in a recession, but it still is the case that immigrants are filling many of the jobs that others just don't want," said Tony Yapias, an immigration activist and director of the Latino Project for Utah. "And it is especially true for undocumented workers."

That may help explain why some business owners still risk hiring immigrants with questionable papers, and why others might have turned to attorney James Hector Alcala, who last week was indicted for allegedly helping 10 Utah companies get bogus work visas for ineligible foreign workers.

During the first quarter of this year, Utahns who collected unemployment insurance benefits received an average of $320 a week, or the equivalent of $8 an hour. The maximum payment was $440 a week, or $11 an hour, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

On July 24, the minimum wage in Utah went up 70 cents an hour, to $7.25.

William Hayden, president of Local 77 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades in West Valley City, said that although work is slowing down, so far he hasn't noticed the recession impacting the ethnic makeup of the work force laboring in that trade.

"I've heard that some [nonunion] contractors have been lowering wages, and generally immigrants seem more willing to accept a pay cut and won't complain as much when it happens," Hayden said.

Although some operators in the state's agricultural industry report they are seeing some increase in the number of nonimmigrant laborers looking for jobs, others expect to continue to struggle to find all the workers they need.

"It seems there is always a need for more farm laborers," said Matt Hargraves, a spokesman for the Utah Farm Bureau, who added that he doubts the tough economy will lead to much of an increase in the number of workers seeking jobs in agriculture.

And that suggests demand for immigrant labor in that industry will continue.

But Juan Manuel Ruiz, president of the Latin-American Chamber of Commerce, said there is a force other than the weak economy at work that soon could lead to a shortage of immigrant laborers.

"Our research suggests that it isn't going to be the recession that causes our immigrant population to leave the state, but SB81, which was designed to make it harder for them to find work," he said.

Senate Bill 81, which was passed by the 2008 Legislature and went into effect July 1, has generated widespread fear among Utah's population of undocumented workers.

It requires all companies that contract with government agencies in the state to run new employees through the federal E-Verify system to ensure they are in the country legally and are entitled to work.

"We're starting to see many [immigrants] leaving the state, but that is just the beginning of the flood," Ruiz said. "I anticipate the flow of immigrants will get much worse in the months ahead."

And although they aren't being replaced by other Utahns at the moment, workers who have lost jobs can't collect unemployment benefits forever. There are only 26 weeks of checks available to state residents. And once those benefits run out, a low-paying job may start to look pretty good.

"As those people who are unable to find work exhaust their unemployment benefits, they might have to consider whatever alternative is available to them," said Nate Talley, an economist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services.