December 2025

Released January 27, 2026

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United States

Employment snapshot

• In December, among the 50 states and the District of Columbia unemployment fell in 8, rose in 21, and remained unchanged in 22.

• The highest unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in District of Columbia, and the lowest was 2.2 percent in Hawaii and South Dakota. Nationally, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 4.4 percent.

• In December, payroll jobs rose in 23 states and fell in 27. The largest payroll job percent increase was 0.4 percent in Delaware and Montana. The largest payroll job percent decline was 0.3 percent in Kansas and Nebraska.

Utah

Employment snapshot

• In December, Utah added 4,700 net payroll jobs and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6 percent. In the prior month, Utah added 4,200 net payroll jobs.

• Over the past 12 months, Utah added 20,600 net payroll jobs and the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points from 3.3 percent.

• Nationally, nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December, or 0 percent. Utah is tied for 4th in the nation for percentage gain in nonfarm payroll employment over the past 12 months.

• In December, Utah’s private sector added 4,400 net private payroll jobs, and over the past 12 months it added 15,500 private payroll jobs. In the prior month, Utah added 3,300 net private payroll jobs.

• In December, employment in Utah rose by 2,345, and over the past 12 months it rose by 3,652.

• Utah’s labor force participation rate remained steady at 67.6 percent in December and ranks 7th in the nation. In the past 12 months, the labor force participation rate has fallen by 0.9 percentage points.

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Utah

Payroll employment

• Utah added 4,700 net payroll jobs, or 0.3 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis during December. In the prior month, Utah added 4,200 jobs. Utah nonfarm payroll employment has increased in 9 of the past 12 months.

• Nationally, nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December, or 0 percent. Utah is tied for 4th in the nation for percentage gain in nonfarm payroll employment over the past 12 months.

• Utah added 4,400 private sector jobs, or 0.3 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis during December. In the prior month, Utah added 3,300 jobs. Utah private sector payroll employment has increased in 8 of the past 12 months.

• Nationally, private sector payroll jobs rose by 37,000 jobs in December, or 0 percent. Utah is tied for 15th in the nation for percentage gain in private sector payroll employment over the past 12 months.

From November 2025 to December 2025:

• The best performing sectors were Professional and Business Services (+2,000) and Financial Activities (+1,100).
• The worst performing sectors were Federal Government (-300) and Private Education and Health Services (-200).

From December 2024 to December 2025:

• The best performing sectors were State and Local Government (+8,500) and Private Education and Health Services (+8,100).
• The worst performing sectors were Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-4,200) and Federal Government (-3,400).

Utah

Labor force

The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the civilian noninstitutionalized population age 16 and older who are employed or actively looking for work.

• The labor force participation rate in Utah remained unchanged at 67.6 percent in December.

• Utah ranks 7th in the nation.

• The 10-year high for the labor force participation rate in Utah was 69.3 percent occurring in April 2023, and the 10-year low was 67.5 percent in April 2020.

• The national labor force participation rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 62.4 percent in December.