SALT LAKE CITY (Sept. 15, 2023) — Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for August 2023 increased an estimated 2.5% across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 41,400 jobs since August 2022. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,725,100.

August’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 2.5%, a one-tenth of one percentage-point increase. Approximately 45,800 Utahns are unemployed. Utah’s July unemployment rate is unrevised at 2.4%. The August national unemployment rate moved up three-tenths of a percentage point to 3.8%.

“The Utah economy remains strong and viable. Anyone who desires to work should find employment,” said Department of Workforce Services’ Chief Economist Mark Knold. “The job market is still attractive. But a reduction in online job postings is a sign that the Utah job market has slowed from its red-hot pace of the past two years. Job postings greatly outnumbered the available labor supply over the past two years, creating a wide gap between available jobs and worker supply. Within the past two months, however, the level of job postings has slowed, but it is still higher than Utah’s historically-normal job-posting level.”

Utah’s August private sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 2.3%, or a 33,300-job increase. Eight of the ten major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains. The overall job gains are led by leisure and hospitality services (16,300 jobs), education and health services (9,400 jobs), other services (3,700 jobs), and construction (2,00 jobs). The two sectors with job losses are trade/transportation/utilities (-1,000 jobs) and manufacturing (-300 jobs).

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

• County unemployment rates for August will post on or shortly after September 18, 2023, at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/une/season.pdf

• September’s employment information will be released at 7 a.m. on Friday, October 20, 2023

Largest private sector gains in the past year:

• Leisure and hospitality services: 16,300 jobs

• Education and health services: 9,400 jobs

• Other services: 3,700 jobs

• Construction: 2,00 jobs

• Trade/transportation/utilities: -1,000 jobs
• Manufacturing: -300 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: