Unemployment in the Denver metropolitan area continued to decline in April, dipping to 8.3 percent, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment figures for the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield area have steadily decreased from January’s 9.9 percent.
The unemployment rate in February was 9.7 percent and March was 9.3 percent.
Nationally, the unemployment rate for April was 8.7 percent.
Both the 8.3 percent for the Denver area and the 8.7 percent nationally were not seasonally adjusted.
Total nonfarm employment in the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield area stood at 1,191,100 in April, up 5,300 jobs over the year, or 0.4 percent.
Nationally, nonfarm employment rose 1.1 percent from one year ago.
In March, there were 1,184,600 people employed in nonfarm jobs in the Denver metro area. In February, there were 1,175,800 people in the Denver metro area employed in nonfarm jobs.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, three of 10 industry supersectors in the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield area added 2,500 or more jobs from April 2010 to April 2011.
The biggest gains were in professional and business services, which added 5,700 jobs, and education and health services, which added 3,800.
Trade, transportation and utilities also added 2,500 jobs over the year.
The local rate of job growth in education and health services – 2.7 percent – outpaced the national rate of 2.2 percent for that sector.
In contrast, the national rate of job growth in professional and business services of 3.2 percent exceeded the local rate of 2.8 percent.
Three of the 10 industry supersectors shed more than 1,000 jobs over the year. Mining, logging and construction reported the largest employment loss of 5,400 jobs, followed by information which lost 2,200 jobs and financial activities, down 1,300 jobs.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
