The Department of Workforce Services (DWS) released the unemployment summary for the month of August in Utah.
Beginning the report, the DWS shared that Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for the month increased an estimated 3.4% across the past 12 months. The state’s economy added 54,400 jobs since August of last year and Utah’s current job count stands at 1,673,200.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for Utah remained unchanged for the month at 2.0%. However, the August national unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a percent to 3.7%. There are approximately 35,500 Utahns that are currently unemployed. In Utah, the private sector employment for August saw an expansion of 3.7%, which is a 50,800 job increase.
Mark Knold, Chief Economist at the DWS, stated that the economic data for this month continued to hold strong in the face of national dialogue about inflation and other economic hurdles.
“Both the national and Utah jobs data are robust and show that hiring remains strong,” said Knold. “The national unemployment rate moved up a little, but when said rates are as low as they currently are, small upward movements are not viewed as a concern.”
Eight of Utah’s ten major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains. They were led by trade, transportation and utilities with 12,200 jobs. Next was education and health services, construction, and leisure and hospitality. On the other hand, the two sectors with job contractions were financial activities along with professional and business services.