Colorado Employment Situation / June 2015

Employers in Colorado added 11,300 nonfarm payroll jobs from May to June for a total of 2,525,600 jobs, according to the survey of business establishments. Private sector payroll jobs increased 8,800 from May to June and government increased 2,500.

According to the survey of households, the unemployment rate increased one-tenth of a percentage point in June to 4.4 percent. The number of people actively participating in the labor force decreased 5,600 over the month to 2,823,400 and the number of people reporting themselves as employed decreased 7,100 to 2,699,100. The larger decrease in total employment than in labor force caused the number of unemployed to increase 1,500 and the unemployment rate to increase to 4.4 percent. The national unemployment rate decreased two-tenths of a percentage point from May to June to 5.3 percent.

Over the year, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased from 35.2 to 34.1 hours and average hourly earnings increased from $26.39 to $26.45.

The largest over the month private sector job gains were in leisure and hospitality, trade, transportation and utilities, and financial activities. There were no significant over the month declines.

Over the year, nonfarm payroll jobs increased 65,400 with an increase of 58,000 in the private sector and an increase of 7,400 in government. Most public sector job gains were in state and local education. The largest private sector job gains were in leisure and hospitality, education and health services, and construction. Information declined over the year.

Over the year, the unemployment rate is down six-tenths of a percentage point from 5.0 percent in June 2014. The number of Coloradans participating in the labor force increased 7,500, total employment increased 23,500 and the number of unemployed decreased 16,000. The national unemployment rate declined from 6.1 to 5.3 percent from June 2014 to June 2015. The following is the unemployment percentages for counties in southeast Colorado.