Colorado unemployment rate flat in June, ticks up in Boulder Valley, NoCo

DENVER — The unemployment rate across the state of Colorado remained flat from May to June but ticked up slightly in each county in Northern Colorado and the Boulder Valley.

The state’s seasonally adjusted rate last month was 6.2% or 35th best in the nation, according to new data from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. 

Boulder and Larimer counties recorded the lowest non-seasonally adjusted June rates at 5.5% of the workforce unemployed. That’s up from 4.8% in May in Boulder County and 4.9% in Larimer County. The state does not provide county-level seasonally adjusted figures.

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Broomfield’s June rate was slightly higher at 5.6%, up from 5.1% in May.

Weld County’s rate cracked the 6% mark in June, posting a rate of 6.5%. That’s up from 5.9% in May. 

Statewide, the private industry sectors with significant job gains in June were leisure and hospitality, with about 5,300 new jobs, and professional and business services, which added about 3,300 jobs. 

Over the year, the average workweek for all Colorado employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased from 33.7 to 33.9 hours, while average hourly earnings increased from $30.35 to $31.58, more than $1 more than the national average of $30.40.

Despite trailing much of the nation in unemployment rate, Colorado has reason to be optimistic about its labor participation rate, CDLE senior economist Ryan Gedney said. 

The labor force participation rate was 68.5% in June, just below the pre-pandemic February 2020 labor force participation rate of 68.7%, according to state data.

Labor force participation has “rapidly recovered compared to most of the nation,” Gedney said. 

As the economy rebounds, many employers, particularly in the hospitality industry, have bemoaned their inability to lure employees back to work. 

“I’m sure there are pockets of the state and various industries that are having difficulties” filling open jobs, Gedney said, but there’s not much evidence state and federal unemployment programs are causing people to sit home.

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