The Salt Lake Chamber’s Roadmap to Recovery Coalition, in partnership with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, has refreshed the Economic Dashboard for January to help business leaders know where Utah sits in the overall recovery. This tool tracks the state’s path to a full and complete economic recovery from the pandemic recession and provides context for decision makers.
“The ongoing economic recovery though still K-shaped is gaining traction across the state and our unemployment has dropped to 3.6% which many experts consider full employment,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance. “We have updated the dashboard to include vaccination efforts to show trend lines and forecast the direction our state is moving to secure public health. Since the beginning I have said that we must be data driven in our decisions and the best thing we could do for the economy is ensure public health. This is happening and the business community stands prepared to assist with vaccination rollout as larger scale efforts are needed.”
- Three essential insights from the February 2021 Roadmap to Recovery Dashboard include:Utah sees year-over job growth. For the first time since March 2020, job change in Utah is positive. December’s year-over job growth was 0.6%. Utah and Idaho are the only states in the nation with year-over job growth in December, the rest of the nation still suffered losses.
- Utah’s unemployment rate drops below 4.0%. Utah’s unemployment rate of 3.6% is the lowest it has been since February 2020 and is in its fourth consecutive month of decline. Utah’s unemployment rate ranks 5th nationwide.
- Vaccine roll-out begins. In December 2020, COVID-19 vaccinations began in Utah. Throughout January, more than 50,000 vaccines have been administered each week. An additional graphic has been added to this dashboard to track vaccination efforts.
The Dashboard is updated consistently, providing essential insights, tracking 10 timely and leading measures, and sharing pertinent indicators since the start of the pandemic. This will give leaders the backdrop for them to make informed decisions.
“These metrics show us that Utah is at the forefront of an economic comeback and leading the way in several facets,” said Natalie Gochnour, director of the Gardner Institute. “The fundamentals here are strong and we are doing our best to blunt the downside to this K-shaped recovery. As vaccines continue to reach the community we expect much pent up demand and positive market mechanics to take hold.”
The Roadmap to Recovery Coalition is a business-led coalition, supported by the Salt Lake Chamber, focused on implementing and promoting our economic recovery. The Coalition is co-chaired by Mikelle Moore, SVP and Chief Community Health Officer, Intermountain Healthcare, and Scott Parson, CEO, Staker Parson Materials & Construction. Investors of the Coalition include Mountain America Credit Union, WCF Insurance, Deseret Management Corporation, Intermountain Healthcare, Staker Parson Materials & Construction, and Rio Tinto Kennecott.
To view the Roadmap to Recovery Dashboard, visit slchamber.com/roadmap-
