Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for December 2018 grew by an estimated 3.1 percent, adding 47,200 jobs to the economy since December 2017. Utah’s current employment level registers 1,542,600. No revisions were made to November’s job growth rate.
December’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged from the prior month at 3.2 percent. Approximately 49,900 Utahns were unemployed during the month and actively seeking work. The national unemployment rate increased two-tenths of a percentage point from last month to 3.9 percent.
“Our state ended the year on a positive economic note with job growth above three percent,” reported Carrie Mayne, Chief Economist at the Department of Workforce Services. “2018 closes out as a year of low unemployment with the average number of unemployed just over 49,000.”
Utah’s private sector employment grew by 3.3 percent year-over with the addition of 41,500 positions. Nine of the 10 private sector industry groups measured in the establishment survey posted net job increases in December, while Natural Resources and Mining remained unchanged from the prior year. The largest private sector employment increases were in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (15,000 jobs); Education and Health Services (5,900 jobs); and Professional and Business Services (5,400 jobs). The fastest employment growth occurred in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (5.2 percent); Other Services (4.3 percent); and Manufacturing (3.4 percent).
