Increased investment in education is key to the state’s continued economic growth according to a group of the state’s top economists who spoke at the Utah Economic Review this morning. Members of the Utah Economic Council believe the state will see moderate economic growth this year.

“We are going to face a chicken-and-egg decision,” said Kelly Matthews, emeritus economist with Wells Fargo Bank, outlining the decision between waiting for revenue to increase before investing in education or investing in education to strengthen the economy. “We must be careful to maintain our reputation as a state with a young, well-educated and highly-productive workforce.”

“There are danger signs,” said Steve Kroes, president of Utah Foundation. “We are in the top 20 for states with people holding degrees—but we were in the top five. We need to continue to invest in two areas, one is infrastructure and the other is education.”

There is good news for the Utah economy, which has created over 30,000 jobs in the past twelve months. With a state economy growing twice as fast as the nation as a whole, the unemployment number has dropped to 6.4 percent, more than two points below the national figure.

“Job creation is the key to economic recovery,” said Juliett Tennert, chief economist in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (GOPB). “If every new business in Utah created two new jobs, we would overcome the problem.”

Utah’s projected growth is a positive sign, but there are forces that could hamper it. The European debt crisis could impact growth in the U.S. especially for states with high export numbers. Utah’s merchandise exports have doubled in the past five years.

“The U.S. will feel some pain from the situation in Europe,” said Richard Evans, assistant professor of economics at Brigham Young University. “Utah is like a boxer that can take a punch and if we get hit by some European trade problems in the U.S., it’s not going to be catastrophic here.”

Darin Mellott, a senior research analyst with CBRE, agrees with Evan’s assessment. “The big question is, what happens to the financial ties we have with Europe if we have a collapse? There is a domino effect.”

Another looming threat, gas prices in Utah are currently the lowest in the nation but an increase is probable in the coming months.

“I don’t think the current gas prices in are sustainable with crude oil at $100 a barrel,” said Matthews. “If we see gas prices go up, there’s a concern about consumer confidence and consumer spending.”

GOPB also released the 2012 Utah Economic Outlook. The Salt Lake Chamber and Wasatch Front Economic Forum hosted the event.