Colorado Employment Situation – November 2021

Household survey data:

According to the survey of households, Colorado’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell three-tenths of a percentage point in November to 5.1 percent. The national unemployment rate declined by four-tenths of a percentage point to 4.2 percent.

Other highlights from the household survey:

Colorado’s labor force increased by 3,100 in November to 3,199,900. The share of Coloradans participating in the labor force held at 68.2 percent last month. The state continues to experience a faster rate of recovery in the participation rate than the U.S.

The number of individuals employed in Colorado grew by 10,700 in November to 3,036,100, which represents 64.7 percent of the state’s 16+ population. Colorado’s employment-to-population ratio has trended upward over the past three months.

The Colorado counties with the highest unemployment rates in November were: San Miguel (7.6%), Huerfano (6.8%), Pueblo (6.6%), Pitkin (6.1%), and Fremont (5.8%). County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted and are directly comparable to Colorado’s November unadjusted rate of 4.4 percent.

Establishment survey data:

Employers in Colorado added 9,800 nonfarm payroll jobs from October to November for a total of 2,765,400 jobs, according to the survey of business establishments. Private sector payroll jobs increased 9,400 and government added 400 jobs. Over the past 19 months, Colorado has gained back 322,200 of the 375,800 nonfarm payroll jobs lost between February and April of last year. That translates to a job recovery rate of 85.7 percent, which exceeds the U.S. rate of 82.5 percent.

These are the unemployment percentages for counties in southeast Colorado: