The unemployment rates in La Plata County and Colorado are lower than nation’s, despite a healthy month of hiring across the U.S.
The unemployment rate for La Plata County was 3.2 percent for November, compared with 4.1 percent for the state, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
The national unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent in December from 5.8 percent in November. The rate is now at its lowest point since 2008.
The last time the Colorado unemployment rate was as low as 4.1 percent was January 2008, according to a department news release. The 2014 numbers were the most recent available for the state and county.
According to a U.S. Department of Labor report, 252,000 jobs have been added nationwide. Overall, job gains occurred in professional and business services, construction food service, health care and manufacturing, the report said.
La Plata County’s top five leading job industries are government employment, retail and trade, health care and social assistance, construction and accommodation and food services, according to the La Plata Economic Development Alliance.
The largest private sector employer in the area is Mercy Regional Medical Center with 900 employees, the alliance documented.
A majority of the private workforce in Colorado, North Dakota, Utah, Montana and Wyoming is employed by small businesses, and more than 97 percent of all business in these states is considered small, according to a U.S. Small Business Administration news release.
Nationally, nearly 3 million jobs were added in 2014, and continued solid hiring is expected to propel the economy this year to its fastest growth in a decade. The gains are putting further distance between the strengthening American economy and struggling nations overseas.
The federal government’s report Friday did point to some weaknesses, notably in Americans’ paychecks, which have barely kept ahead of inflation during the 5½-year recovery. In December, average hourly pay actually fell.
And one reason the unemployment rate fell last month had nothing to do with more hiring: Many of the jobless gave up looking for work and so were no longer counted as unemployed.
Still, while December’s hiring did not match November’s huge 353,000 gain, job growth in the final three months of 2014 averaged a robust 289,000. That was up sharply from the 239,000 average for the third quarter of 2014.
The unemployment rate is now near the 5.2 percent to 5.5 percent range that the Federal Reserve considers consistent with a healthy economy – one reason the Fed has been expected to raise interest rates from record lows by midyear.
vguthrie@durangoherald.com
