Colorado Unemployment Falls, Still Above National Rate [Updated]

Colorado's unemployment rate ticked down 0.2 percent last month to 8 percent. New figures released Friday show both government and the private sector added roughly 7,000 jobs in September.

Those increases were largely driven by gains in the education sector, says Alexandra Hall, chief economist for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

"We saw an increase in state educational services like higher education, and in private sector educational services. Now we did see increases in other industries, but those were the two main drivers," she says.

Health services and transportation were among the industries adding jobs, while manufacturing had the largest decline from last month.

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Credit Colorado Department of Labor and Employment

Colorado non-farm payroll jobs over the month change from August 2012 - September 2012

Although the increase in overall jobs was strong, Hall says labor officials are not getting too excited -- instead, viewing the gains as part of an ongoing positive trend.

"If we just look at the average over the past six months, this number brings us to about 1600 nonfarm payroll jobs added over the month, each month, for that period of time. So it brings us to a nice, slow but steady growth."

Colorado’s unemployment is still slightly above the national rate of 7.8 percent.