Employers struggle to find workers as jobless rate drops

Utah’s jobless rate continues to drop but is already below what many economists consider “full employment” — the point at which virtually all who are able and willing to work are employed. Many Utah employers continue to struggle to fill open positions — especially in the hospitality and food industries — despite the current unemployment rate of 2.4 percent translating to 40,100 Utahns without work. The rate is down from 2.5 percent in August.

The nationwide unemployment rate also continues to decline, reported at 4.8 percent in September.

The Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS) continues to report employment number comparisons across the past 24 months, preferring to compare current numbers to pre-pandemic data. Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for September increased an estimated 3.4 percent across the past 24 months, the agency said. The state’s economy has added a cumulative 53,600 jobs since September 2019. Utah’s current employment level stands at 1,625,200.

“The Utah economy is still moving strongly through the greater pandemic event,” said Mark Knold, chief economist at DWS. “Utah’s economy has more jobs now than it did prior to the pandemic’s onset and that speaks to Utah’s economic resiliency. There remains room for improvement as the population’s labor force engagement is below what it was before the pandemic. For some, trepidations remain about re-engaging in work, i.e., public interaction. We view this as a natural and short-term condition and not a new normal.”

Utah’s September private sector was doing better than the public sector in growing employment numbers, with a 24-month expansion of 4.5 percent compared to the state’s overall 3.4 percent growth rate.

Seven of Utah’s 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net two-year job gains, led by trade, transportation and utilities (up 17,800 jobs); professional and business services (up 15,500 jobs); construction (up 12,200 jobs); and manufacturing (up 8,800 jobs). Three industry groups with less employment than two years ago are leisure and hospitality services (down 3,500 jobs), natural resources and mining (down 1,200 jobs) and other services (down 600 jobs).