Colorado unemployment numbers take a turn for the better

DENVER - After months of seeing unemployment numbers rise in Colorado, the state is finally seeing a reversal. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment announced the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October fell to 6.9 percent.

October's unemployment rate is a slight decline from September, when the rate was at 7 percent. It was 7.3 percent in August. Colorado's unemployment rate was as high as 7.8 percent in July, and at 5.3 percent last October.

The national unemployment rate is 10.2 percent.

The number of Colorado residents unable to find work declined by 3,200 in October. The industry sectors seeing the greatest growth were government, which added 7,300 jobs. Education and health services added 1,900 jobs. Professional and business services increased by 500 while trade, transportation, utilities and information added 300 jobs.

The segment of the job market seeing the greatest loss of jobs in October was leisure and hospitality, which lost 7,100 jobs. It is hoped this segment of the job market will rebound in the coming months as the ski season peaks. Construction and manufacturing jobs continued to decline, losing 4,800 and 1,100 jobs, respectively.

While the falling unemployment rate is encouraging, it offers little comfort for people still searching for a job.

"It is frustrating," Lori Moss, a job seeker, said. "For every job I'm applying for, there's about 100 people applying for the same position."

Moss has been working through the Arapahoe/Douglas WORKS! to find a job.

"The competition is probably more severe than I've ever seen it," Joseph Barela, division manager for Arapahoe/Douglas WORKS!, said. "It is taking longer for people to find employment. I think most people are finding employment at a lower wage than their dislocation."

Barela believes the job market in Colorado will continue to grow in the areas of government jobs, health care and green energy.

One area of the market that may not see growth is seasonal retail jobs.

"We didn't see the mass influx of job events from retail in late September and October for the holiday season," Barela said.

However, the slight decrease in the numbers may not be all good news.

"The main reason our unemployment has been falling is because of people dropping out of the labor force," said Alexandra Hall, the chief economist for the Department of Labor and Employment.

Colorado's labor force - the number of people with jobs or looking for work - has declined by more than 81,000 since last October, when it was at about 2.7 million, according to state employment figures.

The shrinking labor force may be attributed to people who are stopping their job search because they're discouraged, are going back to school, or in the case of double-income households, are staying at home to save on day care, Hall said.

Hall said although consumer confidence is continuing to increase, it may still be several months before the labor market recovers from the recession.

"I think there's still a lot of uncertainty about what kind of footing we are in the economy when it comes to employment," Hall said.

A drop in oil prices and investment in the oil and gas industry has affected the unemployment rate in counties in the state's Western Slope, as well as in northern and southern Colorado. Counties along the Front Range have been impacted by declines in the construction sector. The Eastern Plains, where the majority of counties have agriculturally based economies, have not been as affected by unemployment as the rest of the state.