SALT LAKE CITY (Aug. 18, 2023) — Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for July 2023 increased an estimated 3.0% across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 49,300 jobs since July 2022. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,720,300.

July’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 2.4%. Approximately 43,800 Utahns are unemployed. Utah’s June unemployment rate is unrevised at 2.4%. The July national unemployment rate moved down one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.5%.

“The post-COVID economic resilience remains the dominant picture of the Utah economy,” said Department of Workforce Services’ Chief Economist Mark Knold. “The job market is still robust as job postings remain plentiful. The large excess of job postings above the long-term norm that we have been speaking about for the past two years has now subsided, but even returning to a “normal" level of job postings is a healthy picture for the Utah job market. People still have a positive outlook toward the Utah labor market. The percentage of the state’s working age population that are active in the labor market is at its highest level in 14 years.”

Utah’s July private sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 2.8%, or a 40,600-job increase. All ten major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains, including financial services which had been recording job losses for the past year. The overall job gains are led by leisure and hospitality services (17,500 jobs), education and health services (10,200 jobs), other services (4,400 jobs) and construction (4,200 jobs).

• Additional analysis and tables at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/index.html

• County unemployment rates for July will post on or shortly after Aug. 21, 2023, at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/une/season.pdf

• August’s employment information will be released at 7 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.

Largest private sector gains in the past year:

• Leisure and hospitality services: 17,500 jobs

• Education and health services: 10,200 jobs

• Other services: 4,400 jobs

• Construction: 4,200 jobs

Statistics generated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, D.C., modeled from monthly employer (employment) and household (unemployment) surveys.

Listen to Chief Economist Mark Knold shares his analysis of the July 2023 employment report: