Utah’s unemployment rate steadied in December after several months of small increases. The jobless rate saw no change in December, remaining the same as November’s 2.8 percent, leaving about 59,300 residents without jobs, the Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS) said in its monthly jobs report.
The national unemployment rate also remained unchanged at 3.7 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for December showed a 12-month increase of 1.7 percent, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 28,900 jobs since December 2022. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,734,700.
“Utah ends the year with continued job growth, but at a slowing pace from the high-tempo growth seen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mark Knold, chief economist at the DWS. “Utah’s extremely low unemployment rates may finally be weighing upon the economy. When labor is in short supply, an economy may not be able to expand at a pace equal to its full potential. We believe Utah’s slowing job growth is based upon a labor restriction and not upon any business weakening or economic malfunctions.”
Utah’s December private-sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 1.5 percent, or a 21,000-job increase. Eight of the 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains. The overall job gains were led by education and health services (up 9,800 jobs), leisure and hospitality services (up 7,400 jobs), construction (up 3,400 jobs) and information services (up 2,900 jobs). The two sectors with job losses were trade, transportation and utilities (down 5,500 jobs); and professional and business services (down 1,200 jobs).
Additional employment data tables and analysis, including county unemployment rates, can be accessed at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/index.html.