Phil Castle, The Business Times

The monthly unemployment rate has dropped in Mesa County to its lowest level in more than three years as business openings and expansions put more people to work.

But the near record-low jobless rate constitutes a proverbial double-edged sword in also making it more challenging for businesses to recruit and retain employees.

“We’re seeing a lot going on in the economy right now,” said Lindsay Bullock, director of the Mesa County Workforce Center in Grand Junction.

The seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate retreated a half point between March and April to 2.6 percent. That’s the lowest level since the rate fell to 2.5 percent in September 2019, the rock bottom rate in Mesa County for county level statistics in Colorado going back to 1990. At this time in 2022, the rate was higher at 3.2 percent.

For April 2023, Mesa County payrolls actually edged down 68 to 74,743. But the number of people counted among those unsuccessfully looking for work decreased more —  372 to 2,025. The labor force, which includes the employed and unemployed, shrank 440 to 76,768.

Over the past year, payrolls rose 502 — nearly seven-tenths of a percent. The ranks of the unemployed fell 444. The labor force edged up 58.

The monthly jobless rate has dropped in Mesa County more than a point since February, a decline Bullock attributes in part to new business openings and expansions as well as seasonal hiring.

One measure of labor demand — the number of job orders posted at the Mesa County Workforce Center — increased 744 between March and April, Bullock said. 

A total of 2,928 orders were posted, with demand strongest for positions in the health care and retail sectors, she said.

Through the first four months of 2023, 7,092 orders were posted. That’s still down almost 19.3 percent from the 8,787 orders posted for the same span in 2022.

Employers face not only a low jobless rate, but also competition for staff within their industries, Bullock said. “It really makes it a little more difficult for them.”

The situation makes it crucial to not only pay competitive wages to recruit and retain employees, but also attractive benefits, she said. But those benefits should match what employees say they most need.

Bullock expects what’s traditionally a June jump in the jobless rate as high school and college students enter the work force in search of summer jobs. But that will offer opportunities for employers to tap into a different portion of the labor force.

While the recession many expect to begin in 2023 could exert local effects, Bullock said she doesn’t foresee large swings in the jobless rate. “We’ve kind of leveled off now, and it hopefully will stay that way.”

Seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates also dropped in neighboring Western Colorado counties in April — down six-tenths of a point to 3 percent in Delta County and  2.3 percent in Rio Blanco County, four-tenths of a point to 2.2 percent in Garfield County and three-tenths of a point to 2.6 percent in Montrose County.

The statewide seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained unchanged between March and April at 2.8 percent. The state jobless rate has remained below 3 percent for a full year.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 7,200 between March and April with gains in the leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and construction sectors.

Over the past year, nonfarm payrolls increased 22,300. Gains in the leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and educational and health services sectors more than offset losses in the financial services and information sectors as well as the trade, transportation and utilities sector. At 0.8 percent, state job growth lags behind the 2.6 percent gain for the United States.

Since April 2022, the average workweek for Colorado employees on private, nonfarm payrolls lengthened two-tenths of an hour to 33.5 hours. Average hourly earnings increased $1.55 to $35.79.