Unemployment dropped to 4.7 percent in September and Colorado added 14,600 nonfarm payroll jobs, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said Tuesday.
The last time Colorado’s unemployment rate fell this low was in June 2008.
Private-sector jobs increased 14,700, and government jobs decreased 100 during the month. The report also showed Colorado gained 1,800 jobs in August, revising the figure up from a 700 job loss.
That means the state has logged 35 consecutive months of job gains, the report said.
Alexandra Hall, chief economist for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, said that after three months of weaker-than-expected job growth, the report suggests Colorado is back on track to meet economists’ expectations.
Colorado’s average monthly payroll job growth is about 6,600, compared with 5,300 in 2013 and 5,200 in 2012, she said.
Broomfield economist Gary Horvath said the unemployment dip — nearly 2 points lower than the 6.6 percent logged this time last year is no surprise, given the economic activity seen on the streets of Colorado.
In August, Colorado reported unemployment at 5.1 percent, down from 5.3 percent in July and 5.5 percent in June.
The national unemployment rate declined to 5.9 percent in September from 7.2 percent in September 2013.
Eleven states have lower unemployment rates, Hall said, including North Dakota, at 2.8 percent; South Dakota, 3.4 percent; Utah, 3.5 percent; and Nebraska, 3.6 percent.
The largest over-the-month increases in employment occurred in Texas, Illinois and Colorado.
“Job growth is very solid in construction, tourism, health care and professional and scientific services,” Horvath said. “In addition, the extractive industries (oil and gas) are adding a small number of jobs, a larger number of indirect jobs, while making a significant contribution to the state’s GDP.”
Horvath said Colorado will probably see the strongest retail holiday season in a number of years.
Park Meadows general manager Pam Kelly said she is expecting a very strong holiday shopping season — as are the shopping center’s 180 merchants.
“If you look at the amount of merchandise coming in for this particular year, you can just tell retailers are extremely optimistic,” she said. “They are suffering from the same challenges that some of the other businesses that are having an uptick in sales. When the unemployment rate drops this much, it is very difficult to find employees — temporary or otherwise.”
Leeds School of Business researcher Brian Lewandowski said Colorado remains one of the best recovery states in the nation in terms of employment.
“Colorado is one of only 19 states that has recovered jobs lost during the recession,” he said. “Only three states have recorded stronger employment recovery than Colorado — North Dakota, Texas and Utah. Colorado now measures 4.3 percent above 2008 peak employment, compared to 0.8 percent for the nation.”
Colorado employment grew 2.8 percent year over year, ranking the state sixth, he said. Colorado added 67,400 jobs year-over-year, ranking the state eighth in total jobs added.
Also, employment in Colorado industries grew faster than the nation in six of the 11 supersectors in September, and seven supersectors have recorded stronger recoveries from the recession, including the construction industry, Lewandowski said.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com or twitter.com/howardpankratz
