Colorado Employment Situation for October, 2016

Barbara Crimond | Nov 21, 2016 | Comments 0

Employers in Colorado added 6,000 nonfarm payroll jobs from September to October for a total of 2,626,800 jobs, according to the survey of business establishments. Private sector payroll jobs increased 6,900 and government decreased 900.

According to the survey of households, the unemployment rate decreased one-tenth of a percentage point in October to 3.5 percent. The number of people actively participating in the labor force increased 11,200 over the month to 2,909,200 and the number of people reporting themselves as employed increased 15,000 to 2,808,500. The increase in total employment combined with the increase in the labor force caused the number of unemployed to decline 3,800 and the unemployment rate to decrease to 3.5 percent. The national unemployment rate decreased one-tenth of a percentage point from September to October to 4.9 percent.

Over the year, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased from 33.9 to 34.3 hours and average hourly earnings increased from $27.07 to $27.27.

The largest over the month private sector job gains were in education and health services, trade, transportation, and utilities, and leisure and hospitality. The largest over the month declines were in manufacturing.

Over the year, nonfarm payroll jobs increased 64,100 with an increase of 57,800 in the private sector and an increase of 6,300 in government. The largest private sector job gains were in construction, leisure and hospitality, and education and health services. Mining and logging, manufacturing, and financial activities declined over the year.

Over the year, the unemployment rate is down one-tenth of a percentage point from 3.6 percent. The number of Coloradans participating in the labor force increased 83,200, total employment increased 83,500 and the number of unemployed decreased 300. The national unemployment rate declined from 5.0 percent in October 2015 to 4.9 percent in October 2016.

The following are the unemployment percentages for southeast Colorado counties:

	October 2016	Unemployed	Sept 2016	October 2016	Unemployed
Baca	2.0	42	1.8	1.8	34
Bent	2.6	47	2.7	3.0	50
Cheyenne	2.7	28	2.2	2.4	23
Crowley	2.9	40	2.9	3.5	47
Kiowa	2.6	21	2.2	2.2	17
Kit Carson	2.2	99	2.1	2.2	95
Las Animas	4.3	262	4.6	4.4	272
Otero	4.0	332	4.0	4.4	355
Prowers	2.9	168	2.9	3.6	207