Colo. Jobless Rate Dips To 6.9 Percent In October

IVAN MORENO

DENVER (AP) — A shrinking labor force and about 1,000 new jobs have helped put Colorado's latest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October at 6.9 percent, a slight decrease from the previous month, the state Department of Labor and Employment said Friday.

"The main reason our unemployment has been falling is because of people dropping out of the labor force," said Alexandra Hall, the chief economist for the Department of Labor and Employment.

Colorado's labor force — the number of people with jobs or looking for work — has declined by more than 81,000 since last October, when it was at about 2.7 million, according to state employment figures.

The shrinking labor force may be attributed to people who are stopping their job search because they're discouraged, are going back to school, or in the case of double-income households, are staying at home to save on day care, Hall said.

October's unemployment rate is a slight decline from September, when the rate was at 7 percent. It was 7.3 percent in August. Colorado's unemployment rate was as high as 7.8 percent in July, and at 5.3 percent last October.

The national unemployment rate is 10.2 percent.

Friday's figures show that about 184,300 residents are looking for work. At the same time, state officials say that some of the Colorado's biggest industries added jobs in October. Government added 7,300 more and 1,900 were added in education and health services.