Colorado’s unemployment rate dipped to 4 percent in December, the lowest in nearly 5 1/2 years as businesses hired seasonal workers for ski resorts and holiday shopping, state economists said today.
The rate compared with 4.1 percent in November and 4.8 percent in December 2005, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s monthly report. The national unemployment rate was steady at 4.5 percent.
“The Colorado labor market ended the year on a positive note as the jobless rate fell to its lowest level since August 2001,” Donald Mares, the department’s executive director, said in a statement.
There were about 2.3 million people in the nonagricultural work force, up 7,800 from November, according to the department’s seasonally adjusted figures.
Mares credited the improvement to employment for the ski and holiday shopping seasons, which boosted jobs in the leisure and hospitality, and trade, transportation and utilities sectors.
The information and financial activities sectors reported combined job losses of a little more than 1,000, based on seasonally adjusted figures.
