Unemployment went up in Boulder County by 0.2%, the same increase seen state- and nationwide in October, according to the most recent data available from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
The state unemployment rate is now 3.6% compared to 2.8% in Boulder County and 3.7% nationwide. The number of unemployed people rose by 6,800 from September to October to 116,400 in Colorado, including about 5,657 jobless people in Boulder County.
Colorado’s labor force increased by 1,900 in October, according to state reporting, with nearly 70% of Coloradans participating in the labor force. This is significantly higher than the U.S. labor force participation rate at 62.2% after dropping one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month.
However, the overall number of individuals employed in Colorado declined by 5,000 in October, representing 66.9% of the state’s 16-plus population. That’s still 2% higher than a year ago and 0.4% higher than it was pre-pandemic in February 2020.
Nationally, the employment to population ratio was 60% in October, still below the February 2020 level of 61.2%.
There are 8,278 job openings advertised online in Boulder County, nearly 3,000 more jobs than unemployed people. The employers with the most job openings include Boulder Community Health, St. Vrain Valley School District, University of Colorado Boulder and SCL Health.
The top growing occupations in Boulder County include fast food and counter workers, retail salespersons, cashiers, waiters and waitresses and restaurant cooks.
From September to October, Colorado added 17,700 nonfarm payroll jobs, with private sector jobs increasing by 15,400 and government increasing by 2,300 jobs. Private industry sectors with significant job gains in October were professional and business services, construction, transportation and utilities, educational and health services and manufacturing.
Since October of last year, the largest private sector job gains have been in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality and educational and health services with the number of total jobs increasing by 116,200 statewide. During that same period, only jobs in the financial activities sector declined by about 1,400.
Colorado’s rate of job growth over the past year outpaces the nation at 4.2% compared to 3.6%. In the last year, average hourly earnings in the state have grown from $32.69 to $35.27, with the average workweek increasing from 33.4 to 33.8 hours in Colorado.
Wages in Boulder County average $40.25 an hour, according to state reporting.
