Just how low can you go? Utah's jobless rate drops to 2.2 percent

Utah’s unemployment rate in October dropped to an all-time low, according to data released by the Department of Workforce Services (DWS). The reported 2.2 percent rate was down 0.2 percent from September’s 2.4 percent and means that 37,400 Utahns are not working.

Meanwhile, the October national unemployment rate continued to decline, dropping to 4.6 percent from 4.8 percent.

“The labor market in Utah continues to get tighter and tighter,” said Mark Knold, chief economist at DWS. “As people continue to fill jobs, the pool of idle, available labor keeps shrinking. At 2.2 percent, October’s unemployment rate is Utah’s lowest unemployment rate ever recorded. It is the outcome of an economy largely moving along at the forceful pace it did before the pandemic with a labor force that does not desire to be engaged at the same levels as it did before the pandemic. This makes for fewer available workers.”

Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for October 2021 increased an estimated 3.7 percent over the past 24 months as DWS continues to compare current data with that of two years ago before the COVID-19 pandemic caused massive job losses. The state’s economy added a cumulative 58,500 jobs since October 2019. Utah’s current employment level stands at 1,640,700.

Utah’s October private- sector employment recorded a two-year expansion of 4.9 percent. Eight of Utah’s 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net two-year job gains, led by trade, transportation and utilities (up 20,900 jobs); professional and business services (up 15,500 jobs); construction (up 10,800 jobs); and manufacturing (up 7,900 jobs). The two industry groups with fewer employees than two years ago are leisure and hospitality services (down 1,200 jobs) and natural resources and mining (down 1,200 jobs).