Despite the slowly decelerating economy in Utah, the state’s unemployment rate inched downward in April, according to the most recent figures released by the Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS). The jobless rate dropped slightly from March’s 2.4 percent to 2.3 percent in April, leaving about 41,300 Utahns still out of work, the agency said.
The national unemployment rate made a similar drop, moving from 3.5 percent in March to 3.4 percent in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Over the past year, Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment has increased an estimated 2.6 percent, with the state’s employers adding a cumulative 43,500 jobs since April 2022. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,720,300, DWS said.
“Ever so slowly the Utah economy has decelerated every month this year,” said Mark Knold, chief economist at DWS. “The year began with over-the-year job growth of 2.9 percent. Each month since, it has reduced by one-tenth of a percentage point, with over-the-year growth now sitting at 2.6 percent. Nearly all industry sectors continue to make new job contributions to the employment base, and the unemployment rate is rock-bottom low. The slowdown isn’t hurting the economy. It is probably just a slowing in population in-migration that accounts for this gradual job growth moderation. The supply of available labor is slowing.”
Utah’s April private-sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 2.6 percent, or a 36,400-job increase. Nine of 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains, led by leisure and hospitality services (up 9,400 jobs), professional and business services (up 6,800 jobs), education and health services (up 6,200 jobs) and other services (up 5,000 jobs). The only sector with a year-over-year job loss was financial activities, which lost 1,800 jobs.
Additional employment data tables and analysis, including county unemployment rates, can be accessed at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/index.html.