Jobless rate takes slight uptick

Still second only to Nebraska, Utah’s unemployment rate inched up one-tenth of a percent to 2.2 percent in January, leaving about 37,000 residents without a job. The national jobless rate also rose slightly to 4 percent.

Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for January increased an estimated 4.1 percent across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 63,500 jobs since January 2020. Utah’s current jobs count stands at 1,628,200.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

“Utah’s economy entered 2022 on a solid footing and as one of only four states in the nation that have more jobs now than before the pandemic,” said Mark Knold, chief economist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “All of Utah’s major industry sectors have returned to or are exceeding their pre-pandemic levels. The lone exception is government, and that is largely traced to the pandemic-induced reductions in higher education employment.”

Utah’s January private-sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 4.4 percent. All of Utah’s 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains, led by leisure and hospitality (up 17,500 jobs); trade, transportation and utilities (up 12,800 jobs); education and health services (up 6,500 jobs); and manufacturing (up 6,200 jobs).{/mprestriction}