DENVER—Colorado’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 8 percent in April, a tenth of a percentage point higher than in March, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said Friday.
The rate is about even with the rate of 8.1 percent a year earlier. The U.S. unemployment rate was 9.9 percent for April.
Colorado’s rate inched upward as thousands of job seekers who stopped looking for work entered the market again, labor department Employment Executive Director Donald Mares said.
The estimated number of residents unsuccessfully looking for work increased by 2,700 over the month of April to 212,600.
There were about 2.46 million working Coloradans in April, down from 2.5 million a year ago, the labor department said.
Only two industry sectors that the state tracks have added jobs in the last year. The state has added about 4,200 educational and health services jobs and about 3,000 government jobs, according to seasonally adjusted data.
More recently, hiring of census workers helped Colorado add 800 government jobs in the month of April, labor officials said. Colorado also added 1,400 financial services jobs in April and 900 educational and health services jobs. New jobs in wholesale and retail helped the state add 500 jobs in the trade, transportation and utilities sector for the month.
The construction industry is still lagging though. There were about 109,600 construction jobs in April, down 26,200 from a year ago.
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