Colorado’s unemployment rate fell in June for a fourth straight month, but this time it’s because there are fewer people in the overall workforce rather than more people with jobs, state labor officials said Friday.
Colorado’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate, based on household surveys, was 8.5 percent in June, down from 8.7 percent in May and 8.8 percent in June 2010, the state Department of Labor and Employment said.
The department adjusts the rate to account for seasonal differences like teachers, students or construction workers looking for summer jobs, but fewer people joined the summer workforce this year than would be expected if the economy were stronger, said the department’s chief economist, Alexandra Hall.
“We still haven’t gotten to a point where we see consistent or even moderate job growth that tells us we are unquestionably growing again,” she said.
Employers added 4,500 nonfarm payroll jobs from May to June, according to business survey results. Household surveys showed there were about 5,800 fewer Coloradans with jobs, but the labor force shrank by about 10,500 people, causing the unemployment rate to drop, the department said.
About 2.45 million Coloradans were employed in June, and about 228,400 were looking for work, labor officials said.
Nationally, the unemployment rate was 9.2 percent in June.
Colorado typically adds thousands of leisure and hospitality jobs in the summer. When adjusted for seasonal differences, the state gained an estimated 7,200 leisure and hospitality jobs from May to June, the Labor Department said.
Hall cautioned that the number could be adjusted downward but said good snowfall and river levels have boosted interest in rafting, strengthening the tourism industry during the past several months.
The financial activities sector added 1,000 jobs from May to June, as did the professional- and business-services sector.
