Colorado’s unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a point in April to 7.4 percent, the first drop in 18 months.
But don’t pop the economic-recovery champagne corks just yet.
The slight decline from March’s 7.5 percent — a 22-year high — does not represent a trend. In fact, the rate could climb again, officials warned.
“Continued job losses will likely push Colorado’s unemployment rate still higher in the upcoming months,” said Don Mares, executive director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
“We need a little bit more time to feel that we’ve turned the corner,” he said.
The state labor department said the number of employed Coloradans rose an estimated 13,200 in April to 2.53 million.
Still, compared with April 2008, total employment has fallen by 62,900.
Unemployed Aurora resident Nathan Richmond said he has seen no easing in the job market during the three months he has been seeking work.
“I’ve been running all over town looking for a job,” he said while filling out a job application Friday at a Burger King on East Colfax Avenue. “There’s just not much out there.”
The hardest-hit job sectors over the past year are construction, down 15 percent, and manufacturing, down 8.7 percent.
Sectors registering gains since April 2008 include educational and health services, up 3.1 percent, and government, up 2.2 percent.
Alexandra Hall, chief economist of the state labor department, said changes in employment tend to lag behind other nonjob economic indicators such as retail sales and manufacturing activity.
As a result, she said, any signs of recovery in the nation’s or Colorado’s economy won’t bring immediate improvement to the job market.
The national unemployment rate in April was 8.9 percent, up from 8.5 percent in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nonfarm employment continued to fall in April, down 539,000.
About 5.7 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December 2007.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
44 states lose jobs; firms slash payrolls
WASHINGTON — All but six states lost jobs in April, and double-digit unemployment persisted in every corner of the country as companies squeezed by the recession slashed payrolls.
For the fifth straight month, California led the nation in net job losses, with 63,700 jobs disappearing in April. Among the handful of winners were Arkansas, Montana and Florida — a state battered by the housing collapse and badly in need of good news.
Michigan, the heart of the teetering American auto industry, posted the highest unemployment rate in the nation, 12.9 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. Oregon came in at 12 percent, South Carolina at 11.5 percent and Rhode Island at 11.1 percent.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said he expects the economy to begin growing again later this year, but the recovery is expected to be slow, with companies in no rush to hire. The Fed projects unemployment will stay high well into 2011.
After California, Texas cut the second-most jobs of any state, with 39,500. Michigan lost 38,400 and Ohio, 25,200.
North Dakota again registered the nation’s lowest unemployment rate: 4 percent. It was followed by Nebraska’s 4.4 percent jobless rate, Wyoming’s 4.5 percent and South Dakota’s 4.8 percent. Ken Mayland, an economist at ClearView Economics, said he thinks those states are benefiting from growth in agriculture-related businesses.
