SALT LAKE CITY — Utah leaders often talk about the strength of the state's economy and a new study it's thriving because workers are uniquely productive and hard working.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the "Productivity by State" report which looks at labor productivity and hours worked over the three years ending in 2021; measuring how much each state's workforce recovered it's pre-pandemic strength. Over those three years, Utah had the only workforce standing out in two important categories.
The first is labor productivity, which combines a state's economic output by the hours worked by residents. Productivity goes up when each work hour creates more value. In other words, when the state's output grows faster than the numbers of hours worked by people in the state.
Many states, and the nation as a whole, saw increased productivity for each hour worked. In all, 17 states, including Utah, grew productivity at a faster rate than the national average.
Out of those 17 most productive states, only Utah's workforce worked more hours in 2021 than in 2019.
