Utah's Employment Summary: February 2024



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%.


“The Utah economy continues to grow at a slower pace than what we saw last year,” said Mark Knold, Chief Economist at the Department of Workforce Services. “The supply of labor provided by domestic labor migrating to Utah over the past several years allowed the state’s economy to grow faster than what the state’s low unemployment rate should otherwise have allowed. However, this domestic in-migration has now slowed and the state’s low unemployment rate is constraining faster growth. Therefore, Utah’s job growth pace has moderated toward the national average.”

 

Utah’s February private sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 1.4%, or a 19,800-job increase. Seven of the ten major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains. The overall gains are led by education and health services (9,600 jobs), construction (6,900 jobs), professional and business services (2,900 jobs), and leisure and hospitality (1,600 jobs). Three sectors with job losses are financial activities (-2,100), information (-800 jobs), and trade, transportation, utilities (-300 jobs).



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

Largest private sector gains in the past year:
  • Education and health services: 9,600 jobs

  • Construction: 6,900 jobs

  • Professional and business services: 2,900 jobs

  • Leisure and hospitality: 1,600 jobs


Largest private sector losses in the past year:

  • Financial activities: -2,100
  • Information: -800 jobs
  • Trade, transportation, utilities: -300 jobs





Utah's Employment Summary: January 2024



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...





Understanding Location Quotients: Unveiling Economic Specialization in Utah



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...