Colorado's Labor Force Growing Strong Than U.S., Economist Say

DENVER (CBS4)- State economists say Colorado's unemployment rate is slowly dropping, and the labor force is increasing. Experts at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment say they are seeing a faster rate of recovery in the labor force than the country.

CDLE says 3,400 people went back to work in October, bringing the total labor force in Colorado to 3.1 million. It's the largest labor force gain since last April.

One economist believes the elimination of federal unemployment benefits may have pushed more people back into the labor pool.

"I think it's very probable that when we're talking about those employment gains, there is a component of those individuals who were on the federal programs again, it's the PUA or PUC that went from unemployed status to employee status," said Ryan Gedney, Senior Economist at CDLE.

While people are going back to work, many Coloradans remain unemployed and are struggling to receive benefits. Some people still haven't bene paid from when they were unemployed months or even a year ago.