ST. GEORGE — Utah’s employment rate increased by 3.1% since October 2021, according to data released by the Utah Department of Workforce Services, as employers added 50,600 jobs for a total of 1.69 million in the state’s workforce.
Ben Crabb, who serves as a regional economist for the state workforce services, recently spoke with St. George News about the latest data and how other metropolitan areas compare with St. George. Statewide, unemployment rates are at “rock bottom,” he said, while St. George residents are experiencing the highest growth rates in the state.
“The labor market remains really tight with unemployment rates lower than we have seen in many years,” Crabb said. “In St. George, the high rate of growth from in-migration and development is creating many jobs. As a whole, Utah’s economy is outpacing many others in the nation as we are all learning how to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.”
The October 2022 report states that Utah’s unemployment rate is 2.1%, or approximately 37,300 Utahns who are unemployed. Nationwide, 3.7% of the workforce is unemployed.
“We are 2 1/2 years beyond the onset of the COVID pandemic,” said Mark Knold, chief economist for the department. “The Utah economy continues to be one of the nation’s best-performing state economies.”
Labor markets are tight across the nation, Knold added. Nationally, this is restricting growth in many states. Utah, also known as the Beehive State for their community building and tight-knit relationships, seems to be doing better than average.
“An unemployment rate of 2.1% does signal that the Utah labor market is extremely tight,” Knold said. “Yet the economy continues to grow at a vigorous pace. It speaks to both the fortitude and attractiveness of Utah’s economy. Only a strong flow of labor in-migration can support a low unemployment rate economy growing at this pace.”
The most recent data indicates Washington County businesses have added 3,811 jobs since October 2021 for a 4.8% gain. Iron County’s employment rate rose 4% in the same period, adding 942 jobs in the last year.
Beaver County added 37 jobs, Garfield County 138 and Kane County added 75 new jobs. Even with the additional work opportunities, Garfield County leads all others in unemployment rate per capita at 5.9%, followed by Wayne (4.4%) and Piute (4.1%) counties.
According to the department report, seven of the 10 major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains in Utah. Construction added the most with 15,100 new jobs, followed by trade, transportation and utilities (11,300), education and health services (9,700) and leisure and hospitality (9,100). Three sectors had employment contractions, or job losses, including financial activities losing 2,000 jobs, followed by professional/business services (-1,500 jobs) and other services (-400 jobs).
In April 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the St. George metropolitan area reported an unemployment rate of 11.8% and a workforce consisting of 77,466 employees, according to data obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since then, when unemployment rates were the worst since record-keeping began in 1948, the St. George metro area has added 10,622 new jobs.
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