(March 18, 2022) Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for February 2022 increased an estimated 4.2% across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 66,000 jobs since February 2020. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,646,500.
February’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 2.1%, with approximately 35,300 Utahns unemployed. January’s unemployment rate remains unrevised at 2.2%. The February national unemployment rate dropped two percentage points to 3.8%.
“The Utah economy continues to move forward on strong footing,” reported Mark Knold, Chief Economist at the Department of Workforce Services. “All of Utah’s major industry sectors have returned to, or are exceeding, their pre-pandemic employment levels. Job availability and job hiring are churning at a strong pace. Workers keep getting hired, and the unemployment rate continues to decrease. It is now down to 2.1%. Few other states have an economy functioning as strongly as Utah’s.”
Utah’s February private sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 4.5%. All of Utah’s 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains, led by Leisure & Hospitality (17,700 jobs); Trade, Transportation, Utilities (13,600); Construction (5,900 jobs); and Education and Health Services (5,600 jobs).
Largest private sector gains in the past two years:
Leisure & Hospitality: 17,700 jobs
Trade, Transportation, Utilities: 13,600 jobs
Construction: 5,900 jobs
Education and Health Services: 5,600 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 February 2022 employment report: