Colorado sees flat unemployment rate, signaling a return to normal

Jessica Snouwaert, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
·2 min read

Oct. 21—Colorado's unemployment rate remained unchanged in September at 3.4%, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment reported Friday.

The number of unemployed fell by 2,200 from the month before, but the unemployment rate stayed unchanged due to rounding, according to the report.

Ryan Gedney, a senior economist with the department, said the rate indicates the state is moving toward a stable spot following the pandemic and its aftermath.

"I expect things to kind of return to normal," Gedney said. "I think we've moved out of the recovery phase in terms of gaining back those jobs that were lost during the pandemic and moving more into a normal business cycle."

Gedney acknowledged that factors including inflation and rising interest rates have created strong headwinds in the economy but said employment is on stable footing.

"We're seeing at a national and state level almost no movement that would indicate anything of a recession from a job loss prospective," he said. "The unemployment rate is still extremely low at 3.4%."

The number of Coloradans employed dipped by 600 in September, while the number of Coloradans able and looking for work dropped by 2,800; that brought the labor force participation rate down two-tenths of a percentage point from August to 69.4% in September, the release said.

"I do expect a slowdown in the labor force participation rate," Gedney said, "just because the state's really reached levels that it hasn't seen in over a decade. ... So there's going to be a certain point we aren't going to see increases in the participation rate anymore."

The nation's unemployment rate decreased slightly, edging down two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.5%, in September.

The state Labor and Employment Department report also showed:

— The state added 5,600 nonfarm payroll jobs from August to September, based on a survey of businesses. Some of the biggest gains took place in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, trade, transportation, and utilities.

— Over the past 29 months, Colorado added 437,700 nonfarm payroll jobs. Those additions more than made up for the 374,500 jobs lost during the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April 2020, which equaled a job recovery rate of 116.9%, the third fastest in the nation and higher than that of the national rate of 102.3%.

— Colorado Springs' unadjusted unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.5% in September from 3.6% in August.