Colorado unemployment rate falls to pre-pandemic level

DENVER — Colorado’s unemployment rate reached COVID-19 pandemic levels in January 2023, a faster recovery than the state achieved in the past two national recessions. 

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.8% in January, a pretty remarkable feat given the COVID-era jobless rate high in May 2020 was 11.6%.

January marked nine straight months of sub-3% unemployment in Colorado, according to data released Monday by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Despite the strong unemployment-rate showing, Colorado failed to add any private-sector jobs in January.

January was a “weak month for the private sector,” CLDE senior economist Ryan Gedney said.

But, he said,…