Colorado’s unemployment rate was stable at 4% in September, according to the state’s labor department.
The unemployment rate, both in Colorado and nationally, has been climbing since reaching lows more than two years ago. But the ascent has been slow as the economy keeps humming, defying predictions that the U.S. would inevitably tip into recession as regulators raised interest rates.
A year ago, Colorado’s unemployment rate was about 3.3%.
Job growth in Colorado has been uneven over the past year. Some sectors, like government and health care, added tens of thousands of jobs. At the same time, industries including construction and information actually lost jobs.
A survey of businesses, which is separate from the data used to calculate the unemployment rate, showed Colorado added 12,700 jobs in September. The numbers are preliminary and will most likely change as more information becomes available in the coming weeks.
Jobs numbers are revised multiple times throughout the year using different data sources.
In August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that Colorado added 72,000 fewer jobs than previously reported. That means the state’s job market might be materially weaker than it appears at first glance.
Colorado jobs statistics have been difficult to analyze for the past year. The confusion in large part stems from an overhaul of the state’s unemployment insurance system. The rollout introduced mistakes in data collection, making it difficult to get a complete picture of what’s really happening with the state’s job market.
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