Boulder, Larimer, Weld counties notch 16-year lows for unemployment

Preliminary monthly figures released by the state of Colorado on Friday indicate that Boulder, Larimer and Weld counties all hit 16-year lows for September unemployment last month, besting marks set last year.

Boulder County’s non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate came in at 2.4 percent in September, with Larimer close behind at 2.5 percent and Weld at 3.0 percent. Broomfield County came in at 2.9 percent, just off its 2.8 percent mark hit last year that at the time was a 15-year low.

The numbers, released by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, are based on a survey of households.

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Boulder County’s rate was down from 2.9 percent in August and 2.5 percent in September of last year. The September rate is Boulder’s lowest since hitting 2.3 percent in September 2000, and the county’s lowest for any month since hitting 2 percent in December 2000. For the most recent month, Boulder County had 178,504 people employed and 4,446 looking for work.

In Larimer County, the September rate was down from 2.9 percent in August and 2.6 percent a year earlier. Like Boulder, Larimer hadn’t had a lower September jobless rate since hitting 2.3 percent in 2000, and September of this year was the county’s lowest rate for any month since hitting 2.2 percent in December 2000. Larimer had 183,225 people employed and 4,746 seeking jobs.

Weld County’s mark of 3 percent in September was its lowest for the month since 2000 when its jobless rate stood at 2.5 percent. The county’s rate hasn’t been lower for any month since hitting 2.8 percent in May 2001. The most recent month was down from 3.5 percent in August and 3.2 percent in September of last year. Overall, the county had 147,936 people employed and 4,600 looking for work.

Broomfield County’s rate was down from 3.1 percent in August. The county had 35,053 people employed and 1,036 looking for jobs.

The strong local numbers came as the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped two-tenths of a percentage point from August to 3.6 percent. That was unchanged from September of last year. The state lost 300 nonfarm payroll jobs from August to September for a total of 2,621,400, but was still up 69,200 year over year.

Nationally, the unemployment rate in September was 5 percent, up from 4.9 percent in August but down from 5.1 percent a year earlier.