State's jobless rate matches nation's lowest, now 2.9 percent

Utah’s unemployment rate ticked down a little more in March to 2.9 percent, tied with Nebraska, South Dakota and Vermont for best in the nation. The national jobless rate dropped to 6 percent, its lowest point since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago.

The state’s nonfarm payroll employment for March increased an estimated 0.9 percent during the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding 13,800 jobs since March 2020. Utah and Idaho are the only states to show a net total jobs increase in the past year with Idaho slightly ahead of Utah with a 1.3 percent increase. Utah is the only state to show a private-sector growth in jobs since April 2020 with a 1.8 percent increase. Utah’s current employment level stands at 1,566,900.

“March is the first month when the economic comparison is starting to look back on the months of the COVID-19 economic disruption,” said Mark Knold, chief economist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “Job gains from here forward will start to magnify as it is compared against the job losses experienced a year ago. Utah’s underlying trend is positive, will continue and will gain steam as the year progresses. There are still COVID-19 economic setbacks to overcome. Utah, however, is ahead of the national curve in undergoing economic repair.”

Utah’s March private-sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 1.8 percent. Six of Utah’s 10 private-sector major industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains, led by trade, transportation and utilities (up 12,000 jobs); professional and business services (up 10,100 jobs); and construction (up 5,600 jobs). Four industry groups remain with year-over-year employment declines, led by leisure and hospitality services (down 9,300 jobs), education and healthcare (down 2,400 jobs), natural resources (down 900 jobs) and information (down 500 jobs).