Utah adds 26,300 jobs over the year as June payroll growth reaches 1.5%
Utah added an estimated 26,300 nonfarm payroll jobs over the 12 months through June 2026, lifting statewide payroll employment 1.5% above its level in June 2025, the Utah Department of Workforce Services reported July 17.
The annual increase is the report’s central measure of statewide employment growth. It is an estimate, not a final count, and the department’s payroll figures may be revised.
Professional and business services produced the largest reported sector gain, adding 11,800 jobs over the year. Education and health services added 5,800 jobs, while construction added 3,400 jobs.
Three named sectors supplied 21,000 jobs
Together, the three sectors identified by the department added 21,000 jobs. That total represents about four-fifths of the statewide increase of 26,300 jobs reported for the year through June.
Professional and business services accounted for more than half of the 21,000 jobs added across those three named sectors. Its 11,800-job gain was the largest listed increase, exceeding the reported increase in education and health services by 6,000 jobs and the construction increase by 8,400 jobs.
Education and health services was the second-largest contributor among the sectors named in the release. Its 5,800-job increase was 2,400 jobs greater than construction’s 3,400-job gain.
The three specified industry gains do not account for the entire statewide total. The difference between the 26,300 jobs added statewide and the 21,000 jobs attributed to the three named sectors is 5,300 jobs. The approved report material does not assign that remainder to particular industries.
What the statewide measure shows
The department described Utah’s economy as showing strong job growth and low unemployment. The report establishes a year-over-year increase in statewide nonfarm payroll employment and identifies the sectors with the leading reported gains.
For Utah employers, workers and policymakers, the figures offer a current statewide view of which broad portions of the payroll economy were contributing most to the reported expansion. Professional and business services was the largest named contributor, followed by education and health services and construction.
The 1.5% growth rate and 26,300-job total refer to the 12-month period from June 2025 through June 2026. They are not a measure of job growth from one month to the next. They also should not be treated as an identical increase in the number of employed Utah residents, because the reported measure is nonfarm payroll employment.
Limits of the June update
The available release material does not provide the June seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, even though the department characterized unemployment as low. No numerical unemployment rate can therefore be stated from this report material.
It also does not establish whether every major industry added jobs, whether gains were evenly distributed across Utah’s regions, or what wages were associated with the jobs. The report identifies leading contributors, rather than providing evidence that growth was universal across sectors or locations.
Because the payroll figures are estimates subject to revision, the reported 1.5% growth rate and 26,300-job gain should be understood as the department’s June 2026 employment estimate. The source material does not state a next release date or a timetable for revisions.
Within those limits, the July 17 update provides the latest available statewide employment snapshot in the approved material: Utah’s nonfarm payroll base was estimated to be larger than a year earlier, with professional and business services making the largest reported contribution to that increase.
Sources
- Press Release — 07/17/2026, Utah Department of Workforce Services