(The Center Square) – Colorado’s unemployment rate has dropped again, following the trend of previous months.
That comes as the national unemployment increased over the same period, from September to November.
Released last week, the November report found that Colorado’s unemployment rate decreased slightly to 3.8%.
That is a drop of 0.2% from September and means Colorado ranks 23rd nationally for unemployment, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
California, Nevada, New Jersey and Oregon have some of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, topping out with California at 5.5%. South Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate nationally, at just 2.1%.
This is just the second look at unemployment numbers in Colorado since the federal government shutdown delayed the regular monthly reports.
The shutdown lasted from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12 and, while the government retroactively released the September unemployment numbers, it skipped the October report altogether. That makes the November numbers the most up-to-date.
While its unemployment rate is trending down, the November Employment Situation released by the state revealed some other troubling trends in Colorado.
Over the past year, Colorado’s civilian labor force dropped by 17,000. That means, over the past year, Colorado’s total labor force has dropped from 3,279,957 to 3,262,904, or approximately 0.5%.
While a slight decline, that comes while the labor force is increasing nationally. Yet Colorado still outperforms nationally.
Currently, 67% of Colorado’s population is participating in the labor force statewide, compared to 62.5% nationally. November’s numbers were still concerning for the state though.
“This marks the lowest labor force participation rate since October 2020,” the Employment Situation report explained.
Colorado’s rate of job growth over the past year was slightly higher than the national average though, coming in at 0.8% compared to 0.6%.
The report also found that government jobs continued to see consistent growth. In November, the private sector increased by 1,500 jobs, while the government gained 1,200 jobs.
That means, in the past year, the private sector increased by 24,600 jobs, while the government added 6,300 jobs — bucking concerns about budget cuts on both the state and federal level in Colorado.
December’s unemployment report is expected on Jan. 27.
