Nearly 500 Larimer County residents found jobs between February and March, according to figures released by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. The number of those employed in the county rose by 479, while the state added a total of 2,600 private nonfarm payroll jobs.
A slight increase in the available labor force helped keep the county’s unemployment rate at a not-seasonally-adjusted 6.7 percent, virtually unchanged from February’s 6.8 percent, and 1.5 percent below the state’s overall rate of 8.2 percent. Last March, the county’s unemployment rate stood at 7.4 percent, while the state posted 8.5 percent.
For Colorado as a whole, the largest month-over-month private sector job gains were in leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and education and health services. Since last March, government employment throughout the state has declined by 600 jobs.
The national unemployment rate declined to 8.2 percent in March compared to 8.9 percent in March 2011.