The following statistics are presented comparing October 2019 to October 2021.

Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for October 2021 increased an estimated 3.7% across the past 24 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 58,500 jobs since October 2019. Utah’s current employment level stands at 1,640,700.

October’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 2.2%, with approximately 37,400 Utahns unemployed. Utah’s September unemployment rate is unchanged at 2.4%. The October national unemployment rate continued to decline, registering 4.6%.

“The labor market in Utah continues to get tighter and tighter” said Mark Knold, Chief Economist at the Department of Workforce Services. “As people continue to fill jobs, the pool of idle, available labor keeps shrinking. At 2.2%, October’s unemployment rate is Utah’s lowest unemployment rate ever recorded. It is the outcome of an economy largely moving along at the forceful pace it did before the pandemic with a labor force that does not desire to be engaged at the same levels as it did before the pandemic. This makes for fewer available workers.”

Utah’s October private sector employment recorded a two-year expansion of 4.9%. Eight of Utah’s 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net two-year job gains, led by Trade, Transportation and Utilities (20,900 jobs); Professional and Business Services (15,500 jobs); Construction (10,800 jobs); and Manufacturing (7,900 jobs). The two industry groups with less employment than two years ago are Leisure and Hospitality Services (-1,200 jobs); and Natural Resources and Mining (-1,200 jobs).

• Additional analysis and tables at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/index.html

• County unemployment rates for October will post on or shortly after November 22, 2021, at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/une/season.pdf

• November’s employment information will be released at 7 a.m. on Friday, December 17, 2021.

Largest private sector gains in past two years:

• Trade, Transportation and Utilities: 20,900 jobs

• Professional and Business Services: 15,500 jobs

• Construction: 10,800 jobs

• Manufacturing: 7,900 jobs

Largest private sector losses during the past two years:

• Leisure and Hospitality Services: -1,200 jobs

• Natural Resources and Mining: -1,200 jobs

Statistics generated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, D.C., modeled from monthly employer (employment) and household (unemployment) surveys.

Listen to Chief Economist Mark Knold shares his analysis of the October 2021 employment report: