After a few months of inching upward, Utah’s unemployment rate leveled off in October, staying the same as September’s 3.5 percent, leaving about 63,800 Utahns unemployed, according to data released by the Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS).
The national jobless rate was also unchanged at 4.1 percent last month, said the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, D.C.
Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for October showed an increase of 1.9 percent from October 2023, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 32,900 jobs. Utah’s current total job count stands at 1,782,800.
“The state’s goods-producing industries have helped Utah maintain steady job growth and continue to outperform the nation,” said Ben Crabb, chief economist with DWS. “Job growth in the services sector, by comparison, is slowing and tracking closely with the national rate. To prevent further softening in the national labor market, the Federal Reserve has resumed interest rate cuts, which should have a beneficial effect on both goods and services sectors in Utah. With the unemployment rate holding steady, the state’s labor market continues to exhibit resilience.”
Utah’s October private-sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 1.4 percent, or a 21,300-job increase. Seven of the 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains. The overall gains were led by education and health services (up 13,400 jobs), construction (up 9,200 jobs) and manufacturing (up 2,800 jobs). Trade, transportation and utilities (down 4,700 jobs); leisure and hospitality (down 1,300 jobs); and other services (off just 100 jobs) experienced year-over-year job losses.
Additional employment data tables and analysis, including county unemployment rates, can be accessed at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/index.html.