Colorado’s unemployment rate dipped to 5.5 percent in June, the lowest rate of unemployment since October 2008 when the rate was 5.3 percent, and down from 5.8 percent in May.
Colorado also logged its 32nd consecutive month of job growth in June, adding 3,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, the sixth fastest payroll job growth in the U.S.
The national unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in June and 18 states had lower unemployment rates than Colorado, including Nebraska, where the rate dropped to 3.5 percent.
Private-sector payroll jobs decreased 300 and government increased 3,300, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
The largest over-the-month private sector job gains were in trade, transportation and utilities. The largest over-the-month declines were in financial activities, construction,and leisure and hospitality.
Alexandra Hall, chief economist for the state Department of Labor, said that the unemployment rate declined largely because 7,700 more people reported themselves as employed. She said there was also a slight decline in the number of people participating in the labor force — about 1,600 down over the month.
“These combined to reduce the number of unemployed by 9,300,” she said.
The report noted that over the year, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased to 35.1 hours from 35.6 hours and average hourly earnings increased to $26.36 from $25.77.
Last June, Colorado’s unemployment rate stood at 6.9 percent.
Since that then, the number of Coloradans participating in the labor force has increased 46,400; total employment increased 82,100 and the number of unemployed decreased 35,700.
Though unemployment continues to trend downward, the number of unemployed people is still higher than desired, Broomfield economist Gary Horvath said.
“At the end of 2013, unemployment was 6.2 percent,” Horvath said. “It’s now about a half point lower. However, about 150,000 workers remain unemployed.”
Some industries, such as construction, manufacturing and certain high-tech segments are struggling to find trained workers, he said.
Looking ahead, Horvath said he expects Colorado to continue to “see strong growth through the remainder of the year.
“In certain parts of the state, that growth will occur as an indirect result of the extractive industries (oil and gas) and agriculture,” he said. “In the metro areas, it will be driven by broad-based growth across many industries.”
He said the leading sectors will continue to be tourism, construction and jobs related to advanced technology.
Hall said the loss of 300 private-sector jobs doesn’t suggest an economic slowdown. Job numbers can be flat in June, September and October as local economies move from one season to another. It would take four or five months of similar results to signal trouble.
“We always have a period in the late Spring and in the early Fall where we are kind of transitioning from one very active period to another,” said the economist. “And because of how long our winter weather lasted this year in the mountains that can cause some weird issues with the seasonal adjustment factors in the private-sector jobs.”
Construction, one of the state’s more robust sectors, was down 1,800 jobs in June. But again, Hall said that is no cause for alarm.
The construction industry continues to recover at a fast pace,” Hall said. “There is no reason, at this point, to think that there is any change in that trend.”
Leisure and hospitality also lost 1,800 jobs in June; jobs in financial activities (banking, investments) were down 1,900; and professional and business services dropped 1,200 jobs.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com or twitter.com/howardpankratz
