Utah firms still hiring; jobless rate unchanged

Utah’s unemployment rate was unchanged in December at 3.1 percent while the national rate ticked up 0.1 to 4.7 percent, according to numbers released last week by the Utah Department of Workforce Services. The state’s nonfarm payroll employment for December has grown by an estimated 2.8 percent, adding 40,000 jobs to the economy since December 2015.

There are currently approximately 1,447,900 people with jobs in Utah. Approximately 47,200 Utahns were unemployed in December and actively seeking work.

“Utah closes the year on a positive note with strong job growth and low unemployment,” said Carrie Mayne, chief economist at the Department of Workforce Services. “Once all the data benchmarking has been completed, the state will likely record an annual average job growth rate of more than 3.5 percent for 2016.”

Eight of the 10 private sector industry groups measured in the establishment survey posted net job increases in December as compared to last year, while the natural resources and mining industry dropped 900 positions and the information industry decreased by 100 jobs.

The largest private sector employment increases were in professional and business services (10,300 jobs), education and health services (6,600 jobs) and financial activities (5,200 jobs). The fastest employment growth occurred in financial activities (6.3 percent), professional and business services (5.3 percent) and construction (4.5 percent).