Colorado employers added a subdued 1,500 nonfarm jobs last month and the state’s unemployment rate ticked up to 3.2% from 3.1% in August, according to a monthly update from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Friday.
“Given the stronger-than-expected gains in U.S. employment earlier this month and the projected strong GDP growth in Q3, I thought there would be much stronger job growth in the September data than was reported,” said Broomfield economist Gary Horvath in an email.
At the same time, Horvath acknowledged many economists are calling for weaker hiring over the next six months, so September’s gains are “good news” in that job losses are holding off.
Colorado had 6,100 fewer people describing themselves as employed last month versus a gain of 3,600 in the number of unemployed people. That indicates more people were dropping out of the labor force. The state’s unemployment rate remains below the U.S. rate of 3.8%.
The 1,500 jobs the state gained on a seasonally adjusted basis included a gain of 2,100 jobs in government less a loss of 600 jobs in the private sector.
September’s job gains were a fraction of the revised 5,900 jobs added in August, which originally had been estimated at 5,600. However, hiring has fluctuated often in the past year between stronger and weaker months of hiring.
Professional and business services, an important source of higher-wage jobs, added the most positions last month at 2,300. But those were offset by a loss of 2,600 jobs in other services, which includes a broad range of personal services like auto repair shops, hair salons and laundromats, as well as civic, religious and professional organizations.
“I do expect that other services will show some upward movement next month, so I’m not putting too much stock in the drop for September,” said Ryan Gedney, a senior labor economist with the state during a news call Friday morning.
Over the past year, the state has added 40,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, with the private sector accounting for 21,000 of those and government employers adding 19,000 net jobs. Within the private sector, leisure and hospitality has added 22,300 jobs, while professional and business services added 9,000 and educational and health services added 5,900.
Five super-sectors reported annual losses, led by financial activities, down by 8,100 jobs. That category includes banks and mortgage lenders, who are under pressure because of higher interest rates, as well as insurers.
Trade, transportation and utilities, which includes retailers, trucking firms and warehouses, is down by 4,800 jobs. Construction employment is off by 4,200 jobs, information employment is down by 1,800 jobs and other services has 600 fewer workers.
Colorado’s rate of job growth over the past year is 1.4%, which is only two-thirds of the U.S. rate of 2.1%, according to the report. Gedney said Colorado, historically a leader for employment growth, ranks 38th among states for its rate of annual job growth. He predicted that Colorado will move more into the middle of the pack, if not higher, once revisions occur.
