Colorado’s jobless rate ticked up slightly last month. The number now sits at 3.1 percent. That’s still almost two and a half percentage points below the national average of 5.5 percent. The slight upward movement marks the first time the unemployment rate has increased in five years, reports Colorado Public Radio.
April showed a net loss of 2,000 jobs in Colorado. The jobs were shed in the business services sector, as well as the areas of leisure and hospitality. The state did, however, gain jobs in other areas. Sectors seeing job growth included education, health services, government and construction.
Despite the slight increase, Colorado’s unemployment rate is still nine-tenths of a point below where it was at the same time last year. That means, over the past year, the state has gained nearly 68,000 jobs, all-told.
