Utah's Weak Job Market Persists

Utah’s employment conditions remain very weak, particularly given Utah’s historic position as a high growth state. Employment over the past year has declined by more than 51,000 jobs and the Utah Department of Workforce Services is projecting the state will lose close to 55,000 jobs in 2009.

The most recent data show that only three sectors; health care, local government, and federal government have had positive job growth over the past 12 months, Table 1. Undoubtedly, the increase for local and federal employment is due to the $1.9 billion in federal stimulus money received by Utah.