SALT LAKE CITY (July 21, 2023) — Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for June 2023 increased an estimated 3.2% across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 54,200 jobs since June 2022. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,726,500.

June’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 2.4%. Approximately 42,600 Utahns are unemployed. Utah’s May unemployment rate is unrevised at 2.3%. The June national unemployment rate moved down one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.6%.

“Not much has really changed in the Utah economy through the first half of 2023,” said Department of Workforce Services’ Chief Economist Mark Knold. “Job growth is still strong and the unemployment rate remains very low. One thing that has changed is the labor force participation rate. The percentage of Utahns 16 and older who are either working or looking for work has risen to a 14-year high. At 69.6%, such a level was last seen in 2009. Abundant job opportunities and aggressive wages have prompted more people to consider stepping forward and entering the Utah job market.”

Utah’s June private sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 3.3%, or a 47,300-job increase. Nine of ten major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains, led by leisure and hospitality services (17,000 jobs), education and health services (11,200 jobs), construction (6,400 jobs), and professional/business services (4,900 jobs). The only sector with an over-the-year employment contraction is financial activities (-700 jobs).