Colorado Employment Situation In July, 2016

Employers in Colorado added 14,000 nonfarm payroll jobs from June to July for a total of 2,616,000 jobs, according to the survey of business establishments. Private sector payroll jobs increased 11,100 and government increased 2,900.

According to the survey of households, the unemployment rate increased one-tenth of a percentage point in July to 3.8 percent. The number of people actively participating in the labor force decreased 4,100 over the month to 2,894,500 and the number of people reporting themselves as employed decreased 8,500 to 2,784,000. The larger decrease in total employment than in labor force caused the number of unemployed to increase 4,400 and the unemployment rate to increase to 3.8 percent. The national unemployment rate remained unchanged over the same period at 4.9 percent.

Over the year, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased from 34.1 to 33.9 hours and average hourly earnings decreased from $26.76 to $26.63.

The largest over the month private sector job gains were in financial activities, trade, transportation, and utilities, and construction. There were no significant over the month declines.

Over the year, nonfarm payroll jobs increased 74,200 with an increase of 62,600 in the private sector and an increase of 11,600 in government. The largest private sector job gains were in construction, leisure and hospitality, and education and health services. Mining and logging declined over the year.

Over the year, the unemployment rate is unchanged at 3.8 percent. The number of Coloradans participating in the labor force increased 74,700, total employment increased 71,300 and the number of unemployed increased by 3,400. The national unemployment rate declined from 5.3 percent in July 2015 to 4.9 percent in July 2016.

These are the unemployment percentages for southeast Colorado Counties: