Revisions to the state’s job numbers, driven by big upward changes in metro Denver, helped move Colorado from a bottom performer to a top performer last year. Colorado’s economy did much better than first estimated when it came to adding jobs last year and hiring is off to a strong start in 2024, according to an, with the private sector adding only 1,100 jobs and the public sector adding 23,000. That worked out to a 0.8% growth rate, which lagged behind the U.S. rate of 1.
“Colorado job growth was comparable to the U.S. and similar to rates experienced prior to the pandemic,” said Ryan Gedney, senior labor economist with the CDLE, during a news call on Monday morning. Revisions took the state’s unemployment rate up from an annual average of 3% to 3.2%. In January, the unemployment rate was 3.4%, an increase from 3.3% in December. Colorado was tied with Maine for the 24th lowest unemployment rate.
Industry sectors with the biggest monthly gains were professional and business services, up by 4,800 jobs and manufacturing up by 1,700 jobs. Trade, transportation, and utilities reported a loss of 1,800 jobs. Weaker consumer spending may be pulling down hiring in that sector, which includes brick-and-mortar retail as well as the warehouses used for online retail.
Horvath expected the pace of hiring to slow through the remainder of the year and Gedney likewise forecasted that job gains in 2024 should come in below the revised numbers for 2023.