SALT LAKE CITY (October 18, 2024) — Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for September 2024 increased an estimated 1.8% across the past 12 months, with the state’s economy adding a cumulative 32,100 jobs since September 2023. Utah’s current job count stands at 1,769,700. 

September’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 3.5%. Approximately 62,500 Utahns are unemployed. Utah’s August unemployment rate is unrevised at 3.3%. The September national unemployment rate decreased one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.1%.

“The state’s unemployment rate has risen out of the very low levels we have had for the last several years,” said Ben Crabb, Chief Economist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “While 3.5% is not especially high from a historical perspective, it does reflect a labor market that has softened in the last six months. With a little slack in the labor market, employers may find it easier to fill open positions, which remain abundant.”

Utah’s September private sector employment recorded a year-over-year expansion of 1.5%, or a 22,000-job increase. Eight of the ten major private-sector industry groups posted net year-over-year job gains. The overall gains are led by education and health services (11,700 jobs), construction (8,600 jobs), and professional and business services (3,200 jobs). Trade, transportation and utilities (-4,700 jobs) and leisure and hospitality (-500 jobs) experienced year-over-year job losses.

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