DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado’s unemployment numbers in May continued their downward trend as the state slowly emerges from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, but June had more people out of work.
From the week ending May 29 there were 1,210 fewer people filing for unemployment than the week before, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Officials from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment emphasized that Colorado will continue federal unemployment pandemic extensions for another two months, rather than cut them as some other states have recently done.
Officials said the largest gains in jobs recovery came from the hardest-hit industry segment of last spring – leisure and hospitality, particularly Colorado’s restaurants. Arts, entertainment and recreation have the second-most gains.
Other sectors weren’t so lucky. Construction and retail industries actually shed payroll jobs from December to May.
Colorado is surpassing the United States as a whole in recovering lost jobs. It has recovered 71% of the jobs lost to the pandemic’s business restrictions and consumer behavior changes. The United States has added 66% of those lost jobs.
However, the first full week in June saw 778 more people file for unemployment. This was the first uptick since the week of April 24.