Strong hiring in hotels, restaurants, and private health care providers led to an increase of 8,400 nonfarm jobs in Colorado in April, reversing a slow start to the year economically, as reported by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
In February, there was a loss of 11,600 jobs, but March saw a gain of 7,600 jobs. These numbers were impacted by a strike at King Soopers, resulting in a loss of 10,000 jobs in February and a gain of a similar number in March. April showed a strong increase of 8,400 jobs unaffected by the strike.
Out of the 18 industry sectors in the state, nine added jobs, eight lost jobs, and one remained unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the CDLE report.
Despite uncertainty caused by federal policies, economist Gary Horvath noted that existing weaknesses in the Colorado labor market predate current federal policies. Accommodation and food service added 5,200 jobs, while private health care and social assistance added 4,500 jobs. Transportation, warehousing, and utilities saw an increase of 1,700 jobs, and government employment was up by 1,200 positions.
The largest declines were seen in administrative, support, and waste management jobs, down by 1,700, and in retail trade, down by 1,200.
Annual job gains are at 23,200, with a job growth rate of 0.8% in Colorado, slightly lower than the U.S. job growth rate of 1.2%. However, this is an improvement from previous months. The state’s unemployment rate remained at 4.8%, higher than the national rate of 4.2%.
There have been 781 unemployment claims from federal workers in Colorado between January and May, mainly from Denver, El Paso, Jefferson, and Larimer counties.
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