SALT LAKE CITY (May 20, 2022) — Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for April 2022 increased an estimated 3.9% across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 62,400 jobs since April 2021. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,664,800.

April’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 1.9%, with approximately 33,300 Utahns unemployed. March’s unemployment rate remains unrevised at 2.0%. The April national unemployment rate held steady at 3.6%.

“The year has progressed into the springtime and the Utah economy continues on its expansionary path,” said Mark Knold, Chief Economist at the Department of Workforce Services. “The unemployment rate has fallen to a new low of 1.9%. The rate has been heading downward all year to date, so the current rate brings us to what we anticipated by this spring season. At 1.9%, the question now turns to how low can the unemployment rate go? Nationally, the U.S. economy is not sending troubling signals. But with inflation high and the Federal Reserve Board moving interest rates higher, many economists anticipate the U.S. economy will slow as the year progresses. That seems to be the Fed’s desire to combat the high inflation. If so, this will act as a restraining mechanism upon further lowering of the Utah unemployment rate.”

Utah’s April private sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 4.3%, or a 57,600 job increase. All ten of Utah’s major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains, led by Trade, Transportation, Utilities (16,000 jobs); Leisure & Hospitality (11,200 jobs); Construction (7,700 jobs); and Education and Health Services (7,000 jobs).

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

• County unemployment rates for March will post on or shortly after May 23, 2022, at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/une/season.pdf

• April’s employment information will be released at 7 a.m. on Friday, June 17, 2022.

Largest private sector gains in the past year:

• Trade, Transportation, Utilities: 16,000 jobs

• Leisure & Hospitality: 11,200 jobs

• Construction: 7,700 jobs

• Education and Health Services: 7,000 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 April 2022 employment report: