Counties with the highest unemployment in Utah
The first jobs report fully under the new Trump administration showed a softening job market, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.1% in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released March 7.
Job growth increased but fell below expectations, one of several possible fissures appearing in the once rock-solid labor market. Businesses are pulling back on hiring as the economic forecast and policy outlook grow murkier due to volatile trade policies and large cuts to the federal workforce.
Federal government employment fell by 10,000 in February, pushing up total cuts to the federal workforce. In the first two months of 2025, 62,530 federal workers were let go. However, the most recent cuts, including the Department of Education's workforce getting slashed by nearly half, have not yet appeared in official jobs data. Retail employment also fell by 6,000.
The broader unemployment index, known as the U-6, which also includes laborers working part-time because they can't find full-time work, and those who want to work but have given up searching, rose to 8%, its highest since October 2021.
To get a glimpse of regional variations in employment, Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in Utah, using BLS data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in January 2025, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Key takeaways: Jobs report shows softening labor market
February's job growth of 151,000 fell below economists' expected gains of 160,000, showing the labor market is cooling faster than predicted. Experts say many companies weighing policy changes and economic uncertainty are deciding it's safer to hold off on hiring decisions for now.
"If you were a company and you were saying, 'I'm looking to expand, or I'm looking to hire,' you would have investors in those companies saying, 'Are you crazy?'" Ron Hetrick, senior labor economist at Lightcast, told Marketplace.
Consumer spending fell in January for the first time in two years, which may have led to layoffs or hiring slowdowns, Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, told NBC News.
The big story: From bold promises to frozen labor market
After an initial market pop following Trump's electoral win, indexes have slumped to below when he took office, and uncertainty about the future of the markets is a common theme. Are threatened tariffs in place, delayed, reversed, or ramped up? Has that federal worker been fired or given their job back? Are those federal dollars slashed or reinstated? It's a question mark that changes daily.
Research shows that uncertainty invites lower investment, slows employment, and increases financial market volatility. The word "uncertain" showed up 47 times in the March edition of the Beige Book, the Federal Reserve's snapshot of reports from across the nation, compared to 17 times in the previous report from January.
The new administration's blitz of executive orders and trade policy waffling have cast a dense fog over the short-term economic outlook. One thing that is known? Uncertainty isn't good for business planning, job creation, or hiring.
In a March 12 interview with Semafor, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon noted that average consumers likely don't change "what they're going to do because they read about tariffs," but "companies might."
"Uncertainty is not a good thing," Dimon added.
To get a better idea of your community's current economy, read on to see the counties with the highest unemployment in Utah.
29. Summit County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.2%
--- 1-month change: 0.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 29,378 people (652 unemployed)
28. Morgan County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.5%
--- 1-month change: 0.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,230 people (157 unemployed)
27. Wasatch County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.6%
--- 1-month change: -0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 21,305 people (555 unemployed)
26. Cache County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 74,239 people (2,011 unemployed)
24. Davis County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 197,590 people (5,584 unemployed)
24. Iron County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 33,420 people (946 unemployed)
22. Millard County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.9%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,974 people (203 unemployed)
22. Beaver County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.9%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,132 people (92 unemployed)
21. Box Elder County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 29,425 people (891 unemployed)
20. Juab County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,468 people (199 unemployed)
18. Utah County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 366,701 people (11,772 unemployed)
18. Salt Lake County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 695,283 people (22,215 unemployed)
13. Washington County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 94,891 people (3,088 unemployed)
13. Uintah County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 18,188 people (601 unemployed)
13. Weber County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 148,766 people (4,861 unemployed)
13. Rich County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,242 people (41 unemployed)
13. Sanpete County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 14,314 people (475 unemployed)
12. Tooele County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.4%
--- 1-month change: 0.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 45,055 people (1,534 unemployed)
11. Duchesne County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 9,314 people (327 unemployed)
10. Sevier County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.7%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,365 people (385 unemployed)
9. Carbon County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: +0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,687 people (341 unemployed)
8. Emery County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,578 people (185 unemployed)
7. Kane County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: +1.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,618 people (174 unemployed)
6. Daggett County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 465 people (25 unemployed)
5. San Juan County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,143 people (359 unemployed)
4. Piute County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.8%
--- 1-month change: +1.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 533 people (36 unemployed)
3. Wayne County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 7.6%
--- 1-month change: +1.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,380 people (105 unemployed)
2. Grand County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 8.4%
--- 1-month change: +3.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,244 people (522 unemployed)
1. Garfield County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 13.2%
--- 1-month change: +4.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,205 people (290 unemployed)
This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Ben Popken, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.
