Greeley’s April unemployment highest in state

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Greeley recorded the highest unemployment rate for Colorado’s metropolitan areas in April, according the latest data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Greeley metro area, which encompasses much of Weld County, had an unemployment rate of 8.1 percent for April — the highest among the seven metropolitan statistical areas in the state. Pueblo also saw an 8.1 percent unemployment rate, while Colorado’s overall rate was 7.3 percent.

Greeley’s unemployment was down from March, however, when the rate was 8.6 percent. In April 2008, the rate was 4.5 percent.

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The Fort Collins-Loveland metro area had the second lowest unemployment rate in April at 6.1 percent. The rate is down from 6.7 percent in March but up from 3.7 percent in April 2008. The Boulder MSA reported the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 5.7 percent. Other unemployment rates were:

• Colorado Springs — 7.7 percent
• Denver-Aurora-Broomfield — 7.5 percent
• Grand Junction — 8 percent

April unemployment rates were higher than the previous year in all 372 metro areas tracked by the BLS. It was the fourth consecutive month that every MSA saw a year-over-year increase. Thirteen areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15 percent, and 31 areas registered rates below 5 percent.

The national unemployment rate in April was 8.6 percent — up from 4.8 percent last year.