Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Denver rose 0.3 percentage points in December 2018 to 3.7%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.1 percentage points higher than the Colorado rate. The unemployment rate in Denver peaked in November 2010 at 8.9% and is now 5.2 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 2.5% in March 2017, the unemployment rate has now grown by 1.2 percentage points. You can also compare Denver unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	December 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	3.9%	+0.2	-0.2
Colorado	3.6%	0.0	+0.8
Denver	3.7%	+0.3	+0.7

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with December 2018 data as January metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Denver, Colorado, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Denver, Colorado Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Denver peaked in November 2010 at 127,197. There are now 65,667 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 39,141 in March 2017, the number of unemployed has now grown by 22,389. Denver employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Denver, Colorado) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	December 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
Denver	61,530	+5,810	+13,285

Number of Unemployed Persons

Denver, Colorado Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Colorado Unemployment Rate	Denver Unemployment Rate	Denver Unemployed
February 2019	3.8%	—	—	—
January 2019	4.0%	3.7%	—	—
December 2018	3.9%	3.6%	3.7%	61,530
November 2018	3.7%	3.6%	3.4%	55,720
October 2018	3.8%	3.6%	3.2%	52,615
September 2018	3.7%	3.5%	3.3%	53,323
August 2018	3.8%	3.4%	3.3%	54,905
July 2018	3.9%	3.3%	2.9%	48,011
June 2018	4.0%	3.2%	2.7%	43,982
May 2018	3.8%	3.1%	2.5%	40,923
April 2018	3.9%	3.0%	2.6%	41,776
March 2018	4.0%	2.9%	2.6%	42,379