According to a July 17 report from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), Archuleta County’s unemployment rate rose to 3.2 percent in June, which is up from May’s figure of 2.9 percent.
The county’s unemployment rate for June 2025 was 3.6 percent.
Archuleta County’s labor force totaled at 6,496 with 211 unemployed, according to the report. That compares to a labor force of 6,730 in May, with 195 unemployed.
Colorado’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has remained unchanged at 3.9 percent for the sixth consecutive month, the report notes.
According to the survey of households, the number of unemployed individuals decreased by 1,200 to 124,800 from May to June.
The report also notes, “Colorado’s labor force decreased by 12,900 in June to 3,193,300. The share of Coloradans participating in the labor force was 65.6 percent in June, three-tenths of a percentage point lower than in May. This marks the lowest labor force participation rate since July 2020. The U.S. labor force participation rate decreased three-tenths of a percentage point to 61.5 percent in June.”
The national unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percent to 4.2 percent for June.
Costilla County had the highest unemployment rate in the state in June at 7.1 percent, followed by Morgan County at 6 percent.
Cheyenne and Yuma counties tied for the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 2.3 percent.
Regionally, the report shows La Plata County with a 3.5 percent unemployment rate in June, San Juan County at 2.9 percent, Mineral County at 3.8 percent, Hinsdale County at 2.5 percent, Rio Grande County at 4 percent and Conejos County at 4 percent.
Job loss, growth
“Employers in Colorado gained 4,800 nonfarm payroll jobs from May to June for a total of 2,970,800 jobs, according to the survey of business establishments. Private sector payroll jobs increased by 4,700, while government increased by 100,” the report notes.
The report also states, “May estimates were revised down to 2,966,000, and the over the month change from April to May was a decrease of 900 jobs rather than the originally estimated decrease of 400 (monthly revisions are based on additional responses from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates).”
Nonfarm payroll jobs estimates are based on a survey of business establishments and government agencies, and are intended to measure the number of jobs, not the number of people employed.
The private-industry sectors with significant over-the-month job gains in June were:
• Leisure and hospitality at about 4,000 jobs.
• Construction at about 1,500.
• Other services at about 1,200.
• Manufacturing at about 1,000.
The private-industry sectors with significant over-the-month job losses in June were:
• Trade, transportation and utilities at about 1,700 jobs.
• Information at about 1,700.
Since June 2025, nonfarm payroll jobs have increased by 28,600, with the private sector increasing by 29,700 and government decreasing by 1,100 jobs.
The largest private-sector gains were:
• Education and health services at about 20,800 jobs.
• Leisure and hospitality at about 13,000.
• Construction at about 6,100.
• Professional and business services at about 4,000.
During that same period, payroll jobs declined in:
• Information by about 5,300 jobs.
• Financial activities by about 4,500.
• Other services by about 2,200.
• Manufacturing by about 1,100.
“Colorado’s rate of job growth over the past year is 1.0 percent, above the U.S. rate of 0.3 percent,” the report notes.
The report further notes that, over the year, the average workweek for all Colorado employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased from 33.9 to 33.5 hours, while average hourly earnings grew from $39.15 to $39.33, $1.69 more than the national average hourly earnings of $37.64.
clayton@pagosasun.com
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