Utah’s unemployment rate took another tick down in July, from 2.7 percent to 2.6 percent. Meanwhile, joblessness nationwide dropped a full half of a percentage point to 5.4 percent for the month.
With fewer worker looking for jobs, the state is facing a significant labor shortage, with many jobs going unfilled, particularly in the service, food and hospitality sectors. Industry analysts expect the scheduled September end of some pandemic-related unemployment benefits to help the labor shortage situation as some workers relying on the benefits will return to the workforce.
“Labor shortages have been a buzz word recently, but despite that, the Utah economy has grown significantly over the past three months,” said Mark Knold, chief economist at the Department of Workforce Services (DWS). “By late spring Utah commerce had reverted to its pre-COVID levels. Job openings were abundant. Labor, however, did not return as quickly and thus the call of labor shortages. But labor has been responding. Otherwise, the Utah economy would not have been able to produce two full percentage points of job growth in just the past three months.”
The DWS released figures last week comparing July employment numbers with those two years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic began. In July, Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment increased an estimated 4.2 percent since July 2019. The state’s economy added a cumulative 65,100 jobs since during that period, bring the current employment level to 1,606,600.
Utah’s July private-sector employment recorded a two-year expansion of 5.2 percent. Seven of Utah’s 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net two-year job gains, led by professional and business services (up 20,100 jobs); trade, transportation and utilities (up 18,900 jobs); construction (up 13,300 jobs); and manufacturing (up 8,900 jobs). The three industry groups with fewer employees than two years ago are leisure and hospitality services (down 3,700 jobs), natural resources and mining (down 1,500 jobs) and information (down 800 jobs).