Local employment conditions unchanged in JuneComments 6 Recommend 0
July 17, 2009 - 1:07 PM
WAYNE HEILMAN
THE GAZETTE
The Colorado Springs area job market remained little changed in June as the unemployment rate stood at 8.1 percent for the fourth time in the past five months and job losses from a year earlier continued to hover around 10,000.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment reported Friday that job losses were widespread across the area economy with every industry but health care and government employing fewer than a year earlier. Professional and business services, manufacturing and tourism all lost at least 2,000 jobs since June 2008. The employment numbers, which come from a survey of employers, are adjusted for seasonal changes.
The 8.1 percent jobless rate is up from 5.6 percent a year ago and likely is the highest since the early 1990s, although no direct comparisons can be made because of variances in the department’s data. The unemployment rate before seasonal adjustments last month was 8.3 percent, up from 7.7 percent in May but below the 20-year high of 8.6 percent in March.
The statewide unemployment rate also remained unchanged in June, at 7.6 percent, a 21-year high and up from 4.8 percent a year ago. The state has lost more than 100,000 payroll jobs during the past 12 months, or a 4.4 percent decline.
Although other local and national economic indicators are improving, unemployment and job growth numbers tend to take longer to show improvement because businesses wait to expand staff until they are sure conditions have improved.
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