Utah’s unemployment rate has continued unchanged since November, according to data released by the Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS). Again in March, the jobless rate came in at 2.8 percent for the fifth straight month.
Meanwhile, the nation unemployment rate continues its marginal decline, dropping one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.8 percent.
The state’s nonfarm payroll employment for March increased an estimated 2.1 percent since this time last year, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 35,600 jobs since March 2023. There are now approximately 1,739,500 people holding jobs in Utah.
“Statewide job growth has remained centered in the 2 percent range for much of the last year,” said Ben Crabb, chief economist at DWS. “This is a bit slower than the state’s long-run average, but it is still impressive after nearly three years of unemployment rates below 3 percent constraining the labor supply. Utah’s continued jobs expansion has been supported by high rates of labor force participation and continued in-migration to the state, but recent data indicates slowing. As a result, Utah’s job growth is tracking more closely with the national rate.”
Utah’s March private-sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 1.6 percent, or a 22,900-job increase. Eight of the 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains. The overall gains are led by education and health services (up 11,800 jobs), construction (up 6,600 jobs), manufacturing (up 1,400 jobs) and leisure and hospitality (up 1,300 jobs). Financial activities (down 1,300 jobs) and information (down 100 jobs) were the only sectors with 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.