NEWSLETTERS
SUBSCRIBE

Print Edition

Log in
My Account
Log in
Subscribe
My Account
Log in

Polis touts jobs gains, decline in Colorado’s unemployment rate

By Luige Del Puerto 01/21/2022 | updated 4 years ago

Colorado’s unemployment rate fell under 5% for the first time since the global COVID-19 pandemic forced countries to shut down borders and adopted drastic measures to curb its spread, including closing down gyms, restaurants and other public places.

The bulk of those restrictions, including several that the Polis administration adopted at the early stage of the global health crisis, has since been lifted.  

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment announced Friday that the state’s unemployment rate declined to 4.8% after gaining 9,000 jobs in December.

It’s the first time since March 2020 that the economic metric fell below 5%, the state agency said, adding it’s also the seventh consecutive month of unemployment rate decline.

In a statement, the Polis administration said Colorado has out-performed the majority of states, boasting of one of the fastest recovery rates in the country.

“I’m excited that the lowest unemployment rate since the pandemic began and positive job growth sends a clear message that Colorado continues to be the best place to live, work and grow a business and Coloradans are moving forward,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a news release. “Our administration is on a mission to save people money, grow an even stronger workforce, make historic investments in services to connect workers with good paying jobs so we can all thrive.”

For the fourth straight month, the state added 9,000 non-farm jobs from November to December, the labor department said, citing a survey of business establishments. 

The state agency also said Colorado has, over the past 20 months, regained 335,500 of the 375,800 jobs lost between February and April 2020, translating to a job recovery rate of 89.3 percent. The agency said that exceeds the U.S. rate of 84%. 

The national average unemployment rate remains slightly better, at 3.9% in December, but the state labor department said Colorado recovered jobs at a faster rate at 4.4% compared to the U.S. average, which stood at 4.1%, over the past year. 

The job growth, however, remains uneven. The state labor department said several counties’ unemployment rate remains higher than 5%, notably Pueblo (6.4%), Huerfano (6.3%), Las Animas (5.5%), Fremont (5.5%), and Rio Grande (5.2%). 

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment announced Friday that the state’s unemployment rate declined to 4.8% after gaining 9,000 jobs in December.
The Associated Press file
Luige Del Puerto

Reporter

PREV

PREVIOUS

Deputy AG named as federal magistrate judge in Colorado

Maritza Dominguez Braswell, a deputy attorney general for Colorado, will join the state’s federal trial court at the end of January as the newest magistrate judge. Dominguez Braswell will succeed retiring U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya, who is based in Colorado Springs. Currently, she heads the civil litigation and employment law section of the […]

NEXT

NEXT UP

Judge finds police impersonation, not race, the reason for ex-Denver employee's firing

A federal judge has tossed a discrimination lawsuit against the City and County of Denver from a former employee, finding her termination was not due to her being white, but rather because she publicly and falsely identified herself as a police officer. Emina Gerovic, who was a custodian in the Facilities Management division from August 2014 […]
Welcome Back.

Streak: 9 days i

Stories you've missed since your last login:

Stories you've saved for later:

Recommended stories based on your interests:

Edit my interests