Still dropping: Utah's jobless down to 3.1%

The unemployment rate in Utah, already among the nation’s lowest, dropped again in January by one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.1 percent. The national jobless rate remained unchanged from December at 4.1 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

{mprestriction ids="1,3"}Utah’s rate translates to approximately 49,200 workers who are still actively looking for a job, according to the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) in its monthly report released at the end of February.

Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for January grew by an estimated 2.9 percent, adding 41,300 jobs to the economy since January 2017. The number of Utahns currently holding jobs sits at 1,473,300. DWS also said that December’s year-overyear job growth was revised upward from 2.7 percent to 3.1 percent.

“The first look at 2018 shows the state continuing on a healthy path of labor market expansion,” said Carrie Mayne, chief economist at the Department of Workforce Services. “Job growth remains near the long-run average and unemployment figures indicate the state continues to operate at full employment.”

Utah and Morgan counties showed the best employment situations in the latest figures with just a 2.6 percent jobless rate while Garfield County still showed 8.2 percent of its populous unemployed. The  unemployment rate in Davis and Salt Lake counties remained strong at 2.8 percent.

Utah’s private sector employment grew by 3.2 percent year-over with the addition of 37,800 positions. All 10 private sector industry groups measured in the survey posted net job increases in January. The largest private sector employment increases were in leisure and hospitality with 8,700 new jobs.

Construction added 7,500 jobs and the trade, transportation and utilities sector was up 7,000 positions. 

The fastest employment growth occurred in construction (8.5 percent), leisure and hospitality (6.3 percent) and financial activities (2.8 percent). {/mprestriction}