Colorado Employment Situation in April 2019

Barbara Crimond | May 17, 2019 | Comments 0

Employers in Colorado added 9,500 nonfarm payroll jobs from March to April for a total of 2,765,200 jobs, according to the survey of business establishments. Private sector payroll jobs increased 8,300 and government increased 1,200. March estimates were revised up to 2,755,700, and the over the month change from February to March was an increase of 6,500 rather than the originally estimated increase of 6,100.

According to the survey of households, the unemployment rate decreased one-tenth of a percentage point from March to April to 3.4 percent. The number of people actively participating in the labor force decreased 800 over the month to 3,138,800 and the number of people reporting themselves as employed increased 4,600 to 3,033,700. The increase in total employment combined with the decrease in the labor force caused the number of unemployed to decrease 5,400 and the unemployment rate to decline to 3.4 percent. The national unemployment rate decreased two-tenths of a percentage point in April to 3.6 percent.

Over the year, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased from 33.9 to 32.6 hours and average hourly earnings increased from $28.79 to $30.34.

The largest over the month private sector job gains were in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and financial activities. The largest over the month decline was in trade, transportation, and utilities.

Over the year, nonfarm payroll jobs increased 49,100, with an increase of 45,900 in the private sector and an increase of 3,200 in government. The largest private sector job gains were in professional and business services, educational and health services, and leisure and hospitality. Financial activities declined over the year.

Over the year, the unemployment rate is up four-tenths of a percentage point from 3.0 percent. The number of Coloradans participating in the labor force increased 65,500, total employment increased 52,000 and the number of unemployed increased 13,400. The national unemployment rate declined from 3.9 percent in April 2018 to 3.6 percent in April 2019.

These are the unemployment percentages from southeast Colorado counties:

	Labor Force	April 2019 %	Unemployed	March 2019 %	April 2018 %	Unemployed
Baca	2,267	1.6	36	2.0	1.7	37
Bent	2,016	2.9	58	3.3	3.1	60
Cheyenne	1,138	1.7	19	1.8	1.4	16
Crowley	1,554	4.1	63	4.6	4.3	64
Kiowa	958	1.9	18	1.8	1.5	14
Kit Carson	4,426	1.5	65	1.8	2.1	90
Las Animas	6,759	3.7	248	4.4	4.1	264
Otero	8,662	3.9	335	4.6	4.5	374
Prowers	6,277	2.5	158	2.9	2.7	167