Colorado economy added way more jobs than first thought in 2023

Colorado’s economic system did significantly better than first estimated when it got here to including jobs final yr and hiring is off to a robust begin in 2024, in keeping with an replace Monday from the Colorado Division of Labor and Employment.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics initially reported Colorado employers including 24,100 nonfarm jobs between December 2022 and December 2023, with the personal sector including just one,100 jobs and the general public sector including 23,000. That labored out to a 0.8% progress fee, which lagged behind the U.S. fee of 1.7% and was one of many slowest of any state.

Nonetheless, revisions throughout a course of referred to as benchmarking discovered that 57,900 jobs have been added over the identical interval. Measured as an annual common, the state added 72,700 jobs final yr, which represents a 2.5% progress fee that beat the two.3% fee nationally.

Colorado ranked because the eleventh greatest state for its common annual progress fee, quite than within the backside 15 based mostly on preliminary experiences.

“Colorado job progress was similar to the U.S. and much like charges skilled previous to the pandemic,” stated Ryan Gedney, senior labor economist with the CDLE, throughout a information name on Monday morning.

The state added a median of 4,867 jobs a month final yr in comparison with the two,145 initially reported. June had the largest revision when 12,500 jobs have been added as an alternative of the 1,800 first reported. Three months confirmed downward revisions, with the biggest coming in October, which went from flat to down 2,300 jobs.

About 80% to 85% of the upward revisions have been centered in metro Denver, Gedney stated, reversing the preliminary losses reported and bringing its progress fee extra in keeping with different metro areas within the state. Preliminary job losses have been unhealthy sufficient to rank Denver 385th worse out of 396 metro areas final yr, in keeping with the BLS.

Revisions took the state’s unemployment fee up from an annual common of three% to three.2%. In January, the unemployment fee was 3.4%, a rise from 3.3% in December. Colorado was tied with Maine for the twenty fourth lowest unemployment fee.

One clarification for why Colorado has a comparatively greater unemployment fee is that extra of its grownup inhabitants is working or in search of work. The state’s labor pressure participation fee was 68.1% in January, which is way greater than the U.S. fee of 62.%.

Employers in Colorado added 8,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in January from December, with the personal sector including 5,600 and governments including 2,400 jobs.

Trade sectors with the largest month-to-month features have been skilled and enterprise providers, up by 4,800 jobs and manufacturing up by 1,700 jobs. Commerce, transportation, and utilities reported a lack of 1,800 jobs. Weaker shopper spending could also be flattening hiring in that sector, which incorporates brick-and-mortar retail in addition to the warehouses used for on-line retail.

Over the previous yr, nonfarm jobs are up by 57,900, with 33,500 of that acquire coming within the personal sector and 24,400 coming within the public sector. The largest annual features got here in academic and well being providers, up by 15,300; skilled and enterprise providers have been up by 10,600, and leisure and hospitality have been up by 9,600.