Utah’s jobless rate has shown signs of climbing over the summer with the rate up three-tenths of a percentage point since May, according to numbers released by the state’s Department of Workforce Services (DWS). The September unemployment rate was reported at 2.6 percent, up from 2.5 percent in August and 2.3 percent in May.
The September national unemployment rate came in unchanged at 3.8 percent.
Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for September increased an estimated 2.1 percent from 12 months ago, the department reported, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 35,200 jobs since September 2022. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,730,100.
“The Utah economy has started to show signs of moderating from its rather breakneck pace of the past year,” said Mark Knold, DWS chief economist. “The job market remains attractive. But the pace of job growth is moderating. At 2.1 percent growth, September’s job gains are the slowest since February 2020. Unemployment remains very low at 2.6 percent, but it has risen by three-tenths of a percentage point since May. Finding adequate labor can still be a challenge for some businesses, but not nearly the struggle that it was throughout most of the past 12 months.”
Utah’s September private-sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 1.9 percent, or a 27,100-job increase. Eight of the 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains. The overall job gains are led by leisure and hospitality services (up 9,700 jobs), education and health services (up 7,700 jobs), other services (up 4,400 jobs) and construction (up 3,900 jobs). The two sectors with job losses are trade/transportation/utilities (down 2,000 jobs) and manufacturing (down 1,000 jobs).
Additional employment data tables and analysis, including county unemployment rates, can be accessed at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/index.html.