Utah lost 2,200 jobs in past year, report states

The state of Utah lost more than 2,000 jobs over the past year, according to a report released Monday by the Department of Workforce Services.

The monthly report estimated that Utah's nonfarm wage and salaried job count for October 2008 contracted 0.2 percent compared to the same period last year.

Approximately 2,200 jobs have been lost from the Utah economy over the past year, lowering total wage and salary employment to 1,262,342, the report stated. September's employment growth rate was at 0.1 percent growth.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October in Utah remained the same as September's rate of 3.5 percent. In October 2007, the state's rate was 2.8 percent.

The release stated that approximately 48,700 Utahns were considered unemployed in October, compared to 38,600 in October of last year.

The United States unemployment rate rose to 6.5 percent.

— Jasen Lee