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Pueblo unemployment rate is up slightly but job openings exist

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Pueblo unemployment rate is up slightly but job openings exist

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The days of having the state’s worst unemployment rate seem to be well in the past in Pueblo County.

Although the unemployment rate made a slight uptick in November to 5.9% up from 5.8% in October, it is not as bad as 2021.

Looking across the state, Pueblo and Rio Grande county were tied for the sixth highest unemployment rate. Huerfano County had the highest at 7.1%, followed by San Miguel at 6.8%, Las Animas at 6.7%, Fremont County at 6.6% and Pitkin County at 6.4%, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment report released Friday.

Pueblo has a total of 76,199 workers in its labor force, 71,724 of whom are working, leaving 4,475 workers unemployed. Although Pueblo businesses and agencies collectively offered an additional .5% of jobs this year, the unemployment rate is 1.2% above November 2023 when it was 4.7%.

The Colorado Department of Labor reported the statewide unemployment rate is 4.3% and nationally it is 4.2%. Statewide, the industries that experienced the most growth this year included management of companies and enterprises growing 4.7%, mining up 4.1% and private health care up 4%.

Statewide the industries hit hardest this year included information at a 4.5% loss; administrative, support and waste management at a 1.9% loss; and private education services at a 1.6% loss.

Who’s hiring in Pueblo?

Zip Recruiter has an extensive listing of medical and rehabilitation services jobs listed among 655 jobs available in Pueblo according to its website.

Pueblo School District 70 has 35 job openings listed on its website. The State of Colorado has 15 open Pueblo jobs listed on its website.

The Pueblo YMCA has opened up its summer job postings for 2025 and also needs lifeguards and bus drivers.

Although Pueblo will lose 109 jobs when Russ Davis Wholesale closes Jan. 31.

“The good news is there are a lot of other manufacturers trying to hire right now,” according to Jeff Shaw, executive director for Pueblo Economic Development Corp.

Among businesses looking for workers are the Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel Mill and the CS Wind wind turbine manufacturing company. CS Wind jobs are listed at indeed.com and Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel Mill jobs in Pueblo are listed at evrazna.com.

Unemployment figures fluctuate drastically since the pandemic

Statistics from the state labor department show Pueblo’s unemployment rate has fluctuated as much as 8 percentage points in the past five years.

Pueblo experienced its lowest rate of 3.6% unemployment in December 2019, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that ballooned to 11.7% in April 2020.

Unemployment shrank to 6.4% by the end of 2021 and nearly hit that all-time low again by the end of 2022 when it shrank to 3.7%. By the end of 2023, unemployment had crept back up to 4.5%. Now nearing the end of 2024, the unemploment rate is up to 5.9%.

More: More than 100 Pueblo workers will lose jobs in January when local wholesale plant closes

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via X at x.com/tracywumps. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

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