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Colorado adds 4,800 jobs in June as unemployment holds at 3.9%
ColoradoBiz Staff //July 17, 2026//
In Brief:
- Colorado employers added 4,800 nonfarm payroll jobs in June
- Leisure and hospitality sector added about 4,000 jobs
- Colorado’s unemployment rate remained at 3.9% in June
- Private-sector employment increased by 29,700 jobs year-over-year
Colorado employers added 4,800 nonfarm payroll jobs in June while the state’s unemployment rate remained at 3.9%, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
The state had about 2.97 million payroll jobs in June. Private employers added 4,700 jobs while government employment increased by 100.
Leisure and hospitality added about 4,000 jobs, followed by construction with 1,500, other services with 1,200 and manufacturing with 1,000. Trade, transportation and utilities lost about 1,700 jobs, as did the information sector.
Colorado added 28,600 jobs between June 2025 and June 2026, a 1% increase. That exceeded the national growth rate of 0.3%. Private-sector employment increased by 29,700 jobs while government employment declined by 1,100.
Education and health services recorded the largest year-over-year gain with about 20,800 jobs. Leisure and hospitality added 13,000, construction added 6,100 and professional and business services added 4,000.
Information employment declined by about 5,300 jobs during the year. Financial activities lost 4,500, other services lost 2,200 and manufacturing lost 1,100.
Separate household survey results showed Colorado’s labor force declined by 12,900 people in June to about 3.19 million. The number of employed residents fell by 11,800 to about 3.07 million, while the number of unemployed residents decreased by 1,200 to 124,800.
The state’s labor force participation rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 65.6%, its lowest level since July 2020. Colorado’s employment-to-population ratio also declined 0.3 percentage points to 63%.
The national unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 4.2% in June.
Average hourly earnings for Colorado’s private-sector workers increased from $39.15 in June 2025 to $39.33 in June 2026. The average workweek declined from 33.9 hours to 33.5 hours.
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