The Utah Department of Workforce Services released the state’s latest employment numbers on Friday. Utah’s nonfarm payroll employment for May 2020 showed a reduction of 75,400 jobs compared to May 2019. The job reductions are mostly from furloughs and are considered temporary in nature. Utah’s employment total registers at 1,485,800. May’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate is 8.5 percent with approximately 137,200 Utahns unemployed during May. Utah’s April unemployment rate has been revised upward from 9.7 percent to 10.4 percent. National unemployment for May lowered to 13.3 percent. “May’s employment improvement marks April as the low point in the COVID-19 economic setback,” reports Mark Knold, Chief Economist at the Department of Workforce Services. “We expect May to be the largest single month for job improvement with the initial return to work for many employees as consumer activity greatly increased. With the May job improvement, nearly one-quarter of Utah’s COVID-idled workers have returned to work.” Unemployment rate by county will be released later this week.
