SALT LAKE CITY (March 22, 2024) — Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for February 2024 increased an estimated 1.9% across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 32,600 jobs since February 2023. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,735,300.

February’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 2.8%. Approximately 51,100 Utahns are unemployed. Utah’s January unemployment rate is unrevised at 2.8%. The February national unemployment rate increased two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.9%. More...

SALT LAKE CITY (March 6, 2024) — Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for January 2024 increased an estimated 1.9% across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 32,100 jobs since January 2023. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,720,900.

January’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 2.8%. Approximately 50,300 Utahns are unemployed. Utah’s December unemployment rate is unrevised at 2.8%. The January national unemployment rate is unchanged at 3.7%. More...

By Michael Jeanfreau, Senior Economist

Knowing the profile of an area’s economic structure is the first step toward managing and fostering economic and workforce development. Location quotients (LQs) are a statistical tool used to probe the relative concentrations of specific industries, occupations, or types of employment in geographic areas compared to the national average. LQs provide insights into any area’s economic specialization and help identify unique strengths and weaknesses that underlie its economic landscape.

The formula for calculating a location quotient is straightforward: More...