Workers With Disabilities Help Fuel Utah’s Post-COVID Economy


By Ben Crabb, Regional Economist

Given intended economic restrictions through monetary policy undertaken by the United States Federal Reserve (Fed), the resilience of labor markets has been a surprise to many economists throughout 2022 and 2023. In Utah, the number of jobs now is above what would have been anticipated given the deep COVID jobs disruption coupled with Fed moves to slow the economy’s post-COVID inflation flareup. The continued expansion of the labor market depends to a large degree on maintaining a high labor force participation rate. After taking a downturn in the early part of the pandemic, Utah’s labor force participation rate has rebounded and is now at its highest level since 2009. This article will explore how an oftentimes under-utilized part of the workforce — workers with disabilities — has helped fuel Utah’s increased labor force participation rate. More...



Utah's Employment Summary: December 2023



SALT LAKE CITY (Jan. 19, 2024) — Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for December 2023 increased an estimated 1.7% across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 28,900 jobs since December 2022. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,734,700.


December’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 2.8%. Approximately 50,900 Utahns are unemployed. Utah’s November unemployment rate is unrevised at 2.8%. The December national unemployment rate is unchanged at 3.7%. More...





The Utah Job Demand Buffer



By Gwen Kervin

 

Since March of 2022, the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates in an attempt to cool inflation and slow the economy. However, so far, the effect on Utah’s labor market has been minimal. Constricted labor markets following the COVID pandemic caused employers to have a hard time filling open positions. Because employers struggled to find workers, a large gap developed in unmet labor demand. This elevated wages, which in turn lured marginal workers into the labor force, helping to fill some of the vacancies. While Utah continues to turn in job growth numbers, growth rates have come down from the highs experienced in 2021 and 2022, resulting in a reduction in the unmet labor gap. Because of this, any additional Fed rate moves could have a more immediate influence on the Utah labor market going forward. More...