Utah’s economy, as measured by employment growth, continues to outpace the nation. That’s one of the metrics highlighted on the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce’s Road to Prosperity Economic Dashboard, released recently with August’s numbers.
The dashboard, composed of metrics that point to how the state’s economy is doing and how consumers are responding, is compiled by the chamber in conjunction with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.
“Utah’s economy continues to be very strong, especially in relation to our national economy, and there are a few indicators that point us to that, and the No. 1 that I would mention is our employment growth,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the chamber.
August numbers show Utah’s employment grew 2.3 percent year-over-year, better than the country’s 1 percent growth. Utah has added a cumulative 40,300 in the past year, bringing the state’s current job count to 1,763,600.
“I really love to see when our job numbers are increasing because it drives so much,” said Miller. “It’s obviously important for individuals to have jobs and it means that they can take care of themselves and their family. It also means that they’re making money.”
Miller noted that two job sectors did see some loss: trade, and what’s called “other services.” The latter, he said, saw a dip due to crackdowns on immigration because those are jobs immigrants typically fill.
“Because our economy is diverse, we don’t have all of our so-to-speak ‘economic eggs in one basket’; we can withstand downturns in some industries,” said Miller. “By and large, what we saw in our job growth is that these were across the board and almost all, except those two industries, saw job growth.”
Miller said that if inflation trends toward the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target, the better chances of interest rate cuts, which, in turn, will fuel the economy.
“We did see a slight uptick in inflation. It’s still under 3 percent, which is good,” Miller said. “It went from 2.3 percent to 2.7 percent, and we never want to see an uptick in inflation because that impacts the economy in a number of negative ways. But we’re obviously very grateful that we’re not where we were a year and a half ago, when we were approaching double-digit inflation.”
Utah’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate sits at an estimated 3.3 percent, with 60,517 Utahns unemployed. That contrasts with the national unemployment rate of 4.2 percent.
“Robust job growth continues to fuel economic momentum, even as we see early signs of moderation in hiring trends,” said Ben Crabb, chief economist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “While the unemployment rate has edged up slightly, it remains near historic lows, underscoring the resilience of our labor market.”
Consumer sentiment is also a metric reported on the chamber dashboard. The index rose in August to 79.9 compared to July’s 78.4. A similar survey conducted by the University of Michigan found sentiment fell 5.7 percent during August among Americans as a whole.
“Utah’s economy remains resilient, despite uneven economic indicators at the national level,” Natalie Gochnour, director of the Gardner Institute, said in a statement released with the dashboard analysis. “High employment growth, record-breaking airport traffic and relatively stable consumer sentiment are all reasons for cautious optimism, especially when compared to the national sentiment decline of nearly 6 percent in August.”
The Road to Prosperity Economic Dashboard can be accessed through the Salt Lake Chamber’s website at slchamber.com.