Folks still finding jobs; unemployed rate stays flat

The number of people employed in Utah continues to grow, according to figures released last week by the Department of Workforce Services. Since last March, Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment has grown by an estimated 3 percent, adding 45,100 jobs to the economy. Utah’s current employment level sits at 1,546,300.

Meanwhile, March’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3 percent is unchanged from February and marks the lowest rate in Utah since early 2008. Approximately 47,200 Utahns were unemployed and actively seeking work during the month. The national unemployment rate remained unchanged from the prior month at 3.8 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, D.C.

“Utah has led the nation in its rate of job growth during the nearly 10 years since the Great Recession,” said Mark Knold, senior economist at the Department of Workforce Services. “The current 3 percent growth continues that trend and there is little on the immediate horizon to suggest it will soon change.”

Utah’s private-sector employment grew by 3.2 percent year-over-year with the addition of 40,600 positions. Nine of the 10 private-sector industry groups measured in the establishment survey posted net job increases in March while the other service sector lost 200 jobs. The largest private-sector employment increases were in leisure and hospitality (8,900 jobs); trade, transportation and utilities (8,600 jobs); and education and health services (6,000 jobs). The fastest employment growth occurred in the information sector (6.7 percent), leisure and hospitality (6 percent) and natural resources (4.3 percent).