SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's unemployment rate dropped to 2.2.% in October, the lowest rate ever recorded in state history.
The astounding number was released Friday as part of the state's monthly jobs report. The national unemployment rate is at 4.6%.
"The labor market in Utah continues to get tighter and tighter" Mark Knold, Chief Economist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services, said in a statement on the report. "As people continue to fill jobs, the pool of idle, available labor keeps shrinking. At 2.2%, October’s unemployment rate is Utah’s lowest unemployment rate ever recorded. It is the outcome of an economy largely moving along at the forceful pace it did before the pandemic with a labor force that does not desire to be engaged at the same levels as it did before the pandemic. This makes for fewer available workers."
Utah's economy has been bucking the pandemic, seeing gains while other states have recorded losses. Non-farm employment increased 3.7% in October, adding 58,500 jobs over the past two years. The state estimates 1.6 million are in the workforce right now.
"We’re extremely excited about this historic low unemployment rate and very encouraged that Utah’s robust economy continues to grow after the pandemic slump. We know finding workers remains a challenge for many employers, and we hope all Utahns who are ready to return to work will take advantage of state programs to upskill, reskill and re-engage with industry," Governor Spencer Cox said in a statement to FOX 13.
The biggest job gains were trade, Transportation and Utilities (20,900 jobs); professional and business services (15,500 jobs); construction (10,800 jobs); and manufacturing (7,900 jobs). Hospitality and mining saw the biggest job losses for industries in the state, losing about 1,200 jobs each.
