SALT LAKE CITY (Oct. 20, 2023) — Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for September 2023 increased an estimated 2.1% across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 35,200 jobs since September 2022. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,730,100.

September’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 2.6%, a one-tenth of one percentage-point increase over August. Approximately 47,500 Utahns are unemployed. Utah’s August unemployment rate is unrevised at 2.5%. The September national unemployment rate is unchanged at 3.8%.

“The Utah economy has started to show signs of moderating from its rather breakneck pace of the past year,” said Department of Workforce Services’ Chief Economist Mark Knold. “The job market remains attractive. But the pace of job growth is moderating. At 2.1% growth, September’s job gains are the slowest since February 2020. Unemployment remains very low at 2.6%, but it has risen by three-tenths of a percentage point since May. Finding adequate labor can still be a challenge for some businesses, but not nearly the struggle that it was throughout most of the past 12 months.”

Utah’s September private sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 1.9%, or a 27,100-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 (9,700 jobs), education and health services (7,700 jobs), other services (4,400 jobs), and construction (3,900 jobs). The two sectors with job losses are trade/transportation/utilities (-2,000 jobs), and manufacturing (-1,000 jobs).

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

• County unemployment rates for September will post on or shortly after October 23, 2023, at https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/update/une/season.pdf

• October’s employment information will be released at 7 a.m. on Friday, November 17, 2023.

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

Largest private sector gains in the past year:

• Leisure and hospitality services: 9,700 jobs

• Education and health services: 7,700 jobs

• Other services: 4,400 jobs

• Construction: 3,900 jobs

Largest private sector losses in the past year:

• Trade/transportation/utilities: -2,000 jobs

• Manufacturing: -1,000 jobs

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