Colorado Employment Situation – March 2026

Nonfarm Payroll Jobs Increase by 1,400 in March; Unemployment Rate Unchanged at 3.9 Percent

Household survey data 

• According to the survey of households, the number of unemployed individuals decreased by 100 to 127,100 from February to March. Colorado’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged over the same time period at 3.9 percent. The national unemployment rate decreased by one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.3 percent from February to March.
• Colorado’s labor force decreased by 10,600 in March to 3,227,900. The share of Coloradans participating in the labor force was 66.3 percent in March, three-tenths of a percentage point lower than in February, this marks the lowest labor force participation rate since August 2020. The U.S. labor force participation rate decreased one-tenth of a percentage point to 61.9 percent in March.
• The number of individuals employed in Colorado decreased by 10,400 in March to 3,100,800, which represents 63.7 percent of the state’s 16+ population. Colorado’s employment-population ratio of 63.7 percent in March decreased three-tenths of a percentage point from February. The national employment-population ratio decreased one-tenth of a percentage point from the month prior to 59.2 percent in March.

Establishment survey data 

• Employers in Colorado gained 1,400 nonfarm payroll jobs from February to March for a total of 2,954,600 jobs, according to the survey of business establishments. Private sector payroll jobs increased by 1,300, while government increased by 100.
• February estimates were revised down to 2,953,200, and the over the month change from January to February was a decrease of 7,500 jobs rather than the originally estimated decrease of 7,200 (monthly revisions are based on additional responses from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates).
• The private industry sector with significant over the month job gains in March were: educational and health services (≈2,200) and leisure and hospitality (≈1,800). There were no private industry sectors with significant over the month job losses.
• Since March 2025, nonfarm payroll jobs have decreased by 8,800, with the private sector decreasing by 5,700 and government losing 3,100 jobs. The largest private sector job gains were in educational and health services (≈16,000) and construction (≈1,700). During that same period, payroll jobs declined in financial activities (≈4,500), trade, transportation, and utilities (≈4,300), professional and business services (≈3,900), information (≈3,900), manufacturing (≈3,700), other services (≈1,500), and mining and logging (≈1,000). Colorado’s rate of job growth over the past year is -0.3 percent, below the U.S. rate of 0.2 percent.
• Over the year, the average workweek for all Colorado employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased from 33.5 to 33.4 hours, while average hourly earnings grew from $39.32 to $39.82, two dollars and forty-four cents more than the national average hourly earnings of $37.38.

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