Colorado unemployment rate continued drop in July

DENVER — Colorado’s unemployment rate continued its months-long downward plunge in July, creeping within a half a percentage point of the pre-COVID-19 pandemic low.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point in July to 3.3%, the lowest the figure has been since February 2020, when it was 2.8%, according to Colorado Department of Labor and Employment data released Friday. 

“There’s a lot of competition for labor,” CDLE senior economist Ryan Gedney said. 

The national rate fell by the same margin in July to 3.5%, equal to the pre-pandemic low. 

The Centennial State’s employment-to-population ratio has risen for seven straight months,…