With October drawing to an end, the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) released Utah’s non-farm payroll employment for the month of September. The payroll employment for the month increased by an estimated 2.1% and the state’s economy added a cumulative 35,200 jobs since September of 2022.
Utah’s current job count stands at 1,730,100 and the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for the month was estimated to be 2.6%. This is .1% increase over the month of August. There are approximately 47,500 residents of Utah that are currently unemployed, leaving the unemployment rate from August unrevised at 2.5%. The national unemployment rate for September was also unchanged at 3.8%.
DWS Chief Economist Mark Knold stated that the Utah economy has begun to show signs of moderating from its quick pace of the past year. “The job market remains attractive, but the pace of job growth is moderating,” he said. “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.”
The private sector employment for Utah in September saw a year-over-year expansion of 1.9%, or a 27,100 job increase. Net year-over-year job gains were posted by eight of the ten major private-sector industry groups. The overall job gains for the month were led by leisure and hospitality with 9,700 jobs.
Education and health service followed with 7,700, while other services (4,400) and construction (3,900) were next. There were two sectors that recorded job losses, which were trade/transportation/utilities at -2,000 jobs and manufacturing with -1,000.