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Report: Utah saw fastest job growth in over a year in July

SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time in over a year, Utah's job growth exceeded the 2% rate it had been consistently hovering around since last June, coming in at 2.8% over the past 12 months.

According to the Utah Department of Workforce Services' July employment summary, the state's economy has added a total of 48,500 new jobs since July 2023, bringing the current job count to 1,754,600.

In addition, year-over-year job growth of 2.8% far exceeds the national rate of 1.6%. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July is estimated at 3.2%, with about 57,000 Utahns unemployed. This is still below the national unemployment rate of 4.3%, which rose by two-tenths of a percentage point in July.

“July's employment numbers show a return to higher year-over-year job growth rates in the state,” said Ben Crabb, chief economist for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “After nearly a year of growth in the 2% range, July's 2.8% is a significant increase in the employment rate, boosted by improved private sector hiring. The strong employment numbers are tempered by a rise in the unemployment rate, but this month's 3.2% unemployment rate is still low by historical standards.”

Crabb added that job change is measured by 10 major private sector industry groups, seven of which reported year-on-year employment growth.

The top performers in the group were education and health services, which created 13,200 new jobs during the year, representing a growth rate of 5.8%. Construction followed closely behind with growth of 6.4% and 8,800 new jobs.

Overall, Utah's private sector grew 2.6 percent year-over-year in July, representing an increase of 37,700 jobs.

“The July numbers show a robust private sector that increased employment by 2.6% over the past 12 months, breaking a nearly year-long streak of growth rates of 2% or less,” Crabb said. “The state's monthly private sector job gains from June to July this year were nearly 5,000 jobs. Last year, the June to July change was a decline of 2,800 jobs. These preliminary numbers are an encouraging reflection of employers' confidence in the state's economic conditions.”

Other positive signals from the private sector, said Crabb, can be found in the newly expanding financial services and leisure and hospitality sectors, where job cuts have occurred in recent years.

Nevertheless, the figures on increasing employment growth and the continuing rise in unemployment rates told “contradictory stories”.

“To understand these different signals, it is important to understand that employment numbers and the unemployment rate come from different data sources. Employment numbers come from a survey of businesses that counts the number of people on the payroll. The unemployment rate, on the other hand, comes from a survey of households that counts the number of people who are employed, unemployed or not in the labor market,” Crabb said.

One factor contributing to unemployment is youth unemployment, which is rising faster than other age groups in the state.

Among employees aged 16 to 19, the unemployment rate has risen from 5 percent a year ago to around 12 percent today.

“This age group represents only a small portion of the state's total labor force, but the additional number of unemployed youth compared to last year explains about half of the increase in the state's overall unemployment rate last year,” Crabb said.

And although employment and unemployment numbers are pointing in slightly different directions, Crabb still called Utah's economy “resilient.”

“Employment growth has been robust over the past 12 months, although job openings continue to trend slowly downward and layoffs are increasing,” he said. “While the higher unemployment rates reflect some weakening in the labor market, the unemployment rate of 3.2% is still quite low and the overall labor market picture is not cause for concern.”

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