The Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS) has released the employment report for January 2022, stating that it has been nearly a month and a half since the last performance summary was released. Though this means that there has been a delay in the report, the DWS also stated that this delay happens every year at this time.
For the local area, reports began with Carbon County, which explained that while there are significant improvements in many economic indicators, the pandemic continued its effects on the economy for the third quarter of 2021. The DWS reported that after peaking at 9.2% in April of 2020, the unemployment rate for Carbon County has fallen considerably over the past year.
While many of the county’s largest sectors did lose jobs throughout 2020, construction and taxable sales improved while initial claims for unemployment insurance remain low. However, a two-year comparison in employment for the county does reveal job losses.
The mining sector is responsible for a large portion of the jobs that were lost within that timeframe, though other sectors, such as government, also saw losses. Overall, Utah’s jobs base has increased by 63,500 jobs, or 4.1%. The DWS stated that most of this is new job growth, though some is remaining job rebound from prior pandemic-induced losses.
Looking to Emery County, it was reported that there was a return to positive job growth quickly in the 2021 year. Between September of 2020 and September of 2021, a total of 49 jobs were added within the county. Recent data also shows reduced unemployment and increased average wages.
In a two-year comparison, Emery County was able to add 276 jobs, which equals a growth of 8.7%. Out of the 10 industry sectors, a total of seven contributed to the impressive growth. Construction led the sectors, with 188 jobs added since 2019.