The Center Square) – Colorado’s unemployment rate ticked up to 4.7% in January, according to the state’s Labor Department.
That’s up from December’s seasonally adjusted rate of 4.6%, which was revised, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said. The national unemployment rate in January was 4.%.
According to the Common Sense Institute, a free-enterprise think tank, the state’s unemployment rate marks the highest it’s been since September 2021.
“The [COVID] pandemic caused a major shock to the composition of Colorado’s job market in early 2020 and may have induced some structural changes in the long run,” CSI said in an analysis of the state’s employment data.
Employers in the state added 3,900 nonfarm jobs, bringing the state’s total to 2,981,000 jobs. Of the jobs added, 1,800 were in the private sector and 2,100 were in government, CDLE said.
In the private sector, educational and health services gained approximately 2,500 jobs, while professional and business services gained 1,100 jobs and manufacturing added 1,100 jobs. Sectors that saw the highest job losses were construction (2,400 jobs) and leisure/hospitality (1,000 jobs).
Colorado’s unemployment rate for 2024 was also revised up from 3.9% to 4.3%, while 33,200 nonfarm payroll jobs were added.
Last November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics halted publication of its Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data for Colorado, citing quality concerns over the state’s data for the second quarter of last year.
“Employment data for Colorado showed unusual movements due to ongoing issues with the modernization of the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) system,” a BLS notice said.
The federal agency resumed publishing the state’s data last month.
