Even with a pandemic, Utah’s employment has increased over the last 24 months. According to the latest report from the Department of Workforce Services, the state’s economy added a cumulative 53,600 jobs since September 2019 and the current employment level is 1,625,200. The state’s unemployment rate is 2.4 percent, down from August which landed at 2.5 percent. Nationally, unemployment registered at 4.8 percent. “The Utah economy is still moving strongly through the greater pandemic event” said Mark Knold, Chief Economist at the Department of Workforce Services. “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.”
