Utah’s tourism-destination counties – particularly those in Southeastern Utah – and the state’s most important oil and gas extraction counties have been the slowest to recover from the pandemic-resultant recession.
In the Southeastern part of the state, Garfield, Grand, San Juan and Wayne counites’ unemployment rates remain between 8.3% and 10.3%. Duchesne and Uintah counties sit at 7.6% and 8.5%, respectively. The decline in energy prices mentioned in Utah Foundation’s September 24 release, Utah Priority No. 4: Jobs and the Economy, plays a role in the contraction among oil and gas extraction counties.
The only other county in the state with an unemployment rate above 6% is Summit County, hit by a decrease in tourism. Rich County is the biggest exception for tourism-dependent counties, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state.
Utah’s tourism- and oil/gas-dependent counties are most affected by unemployment.
Figure 1: Unemployment Rate in August
Southeastern Utah and oil/gas-dependent counties are particularly struggling with unemployment.
Figure 2: Unemployment Rate in August
Note:
For this post, tourism-dependent counties are defined as those in which tourism accounts for over one sixth of the labor force, and oil/gas- or energy-dependent counties are defined as those in which mining (in this case oil and gas) accounts for over one eighth of the labor force.
Sources:
Utah Department of Workforce Services, Current County Unemployment, https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/data/library/employment/countyunemployment.html.
Utah Department of Workforce Services, Local Insights – County Snapshots, https://jobs.utah.gov/wi/insights/county/index.html. Utah Foundation calculations.
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