USU professor explains Logan’s low unemployment rate

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics named Logan, Utah as the U.S. metropolitan area with the lowest rate of unemployment for 2019, at 1.5% with only 1,126 people actively seeking employment. 

According to the report, Logan’s unemployment rate is down 0.9% since last year and is less than half of the national average of 3.3%. 

Ben Blau, a finance professor and the holder of the George S. Eccles Endowed Chair in Finance at Utah State University, believes there are many factors that have lead to Logan’s low unemployment rate. 

“Economists have argued that education is one factor that leads to a robust economy,” Blau said. “In the state of Utah, Cache county does very well in terms of education, which is feeding the economy.” 

Blau continued, “I think the other thing is that [Logan has] lower costs of living, which means businesses are able to employ people for lower wages than they could in other places along the Wasatch front.” 

In contrast, El Centro, CA has the highest unemployment rate at 20.6%. Other cities in Utah such as Provo, Ogden, and Salt Lake City have unemployment rates of 1.7%, 1.8%, and 1.9% respectively.

Blau said, “Something Utah, in general, has done well, along with the local policymakers here in Logan,  is they have created an environment that is good for business.” 

“The Silicon Slopes are a great example of large companies around the US coming to Utah,” Blau said. “Why? Because of the lower cost of living and you have a really good base of potential employees that are well-educated.”

In an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, Mark Knold, chief economist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services, said, “Rapid declines in such a low unemployment environment point to an economy running at full steam. Employment opportunities are plentiful.” 

The data also shows that Utah’s metro areas all saw increases in the number of jobs created over the past year, which is great news for the residents of Utah.