Colorado job hunters are still waiting at the train station as the national recovery gains steam, the latest employment numbers show.
Colorado’s unemployment rate rose from 7.9 percent in March to 8 percent in April, according to a report Friday from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Nonfarm payrolls fell by 4,200 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in the April report, the third-largest monthly decline after Maine and Rhode Island, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The declines, however, appear to reflect weaker seasonal hiring rather than a resurgence in layoffs.
“The largest employment losses have been in construction, professional and business services and leisure and hospitality,” said Joseph Winter, a state labor economist. “These sectors are highly seasonal and have been slow to move per their normal trends.”
Professional and business services actually gained a net 3,200 jobs over March. But adjusting for the hiring expected to take place this time of year, it came up short 3,000 positions.
Likewise, construction payrolls fell by 600 positions, but accounting for the normal hiring boost that comes in the spring, the losses were 3,000.
Weather was less a factor in the construction decline than the continued drop in building permits and the ongoing difficulties developers have in obtaining credit for projects, Winter said.
Census hiring helped the government sector show a net gain of 800 jobs on the month. Financial companies also boosted their payrolls by 1,400, while trade and transportation rose 500 and educational and health services added 900 positions.
Nationally, nonfarm jobs have increased in five of the past six months, with April’s 290,000 jobs gained the biggest monthly jump in four years.
Despite that, the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent as more discouraged workers resumed their job searches.
Colorado saw the overall labor force grow by 12,300 people in April. But so far, that increase isn’t being matched with a commensurate jump in the number of jobs available, causing the unemployment rate to rise.
Winter said manufacturing has been an important source of job growth nationally. But in Colorado, exports in electronic goods, a key source of manufacturing jobs, are still decreasing and jobs declining.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com
