After a brief 2023 reprieve, Huerfano County again logs state’s highest unemployment, Las Animas is right behind at number two
by Mark Craddock
OUR WORLD — When it comes to unemployment figures, Huerfano County is, once again, number one among Colorado’s 64 counties. The county logged the worst unemployment rate in the state for December, 2023.
And in the race to the top of this dubious list, Las Animas County finished number two.
The state Department of Labor and Employment reported the Huerfano County’s unemployment rate ended 2023 at 5.6%, significantly higher than Colorado’s average unemployment rate of 3.2%. Las Animas County finished the year at 5.1% unemployment.
Huerfano County’s 5.6% represents a small rise over the November, 2023, unemployment rate of 5.3%, roughly in the ballpark of the county’s 2022 year-end rate of 5.5%.
Las Animas County’s 5.1% is up from the county’s 4.9% in November, 2023, and its 2022 year-end rate of 4.2%.
Huerfano County has perennially been at or near the highest unemployment of any of Colorado’s 64 counties, and that was true again in 2022. The county started the year with 7.2% unemployment, dipped into the mid-5 percent range in the spring of 2022 and peaked at 7.3% unemployment in October of 2022 and January, 2023. In each of the past 13 months, Huerfano County has recorded the worst figures in the state.
In April of 2023, the county temporarily crawled out of the cellar, posting unemployment rate of 4.7%, down significantly from the previous month’s 5.6%, making it statistically only the second-worst county in the state.
In December of 2023, Huerfano County reported 139 unemployed citizens from among a labor pool of 2,465. Last month, the county logged 129 unemployed against a labor force of 2,440.
Las Animas County reported 303 unemployed people in a labor force of 5,915. Last month, it logged 288 unemployed among a labor force of 5,871.
Meanwhile, Colfax County, New Mexico, logged an unemployment rate of 3.3% for December, 2023, a modest gain of 0.4% over the course of the year, according to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions. It recorded 175 unemployed residents in a labor force of 5,240 people. New Mexico’s state unemployment rate stands at 3.6%.
Kit Carson County, East of Limon in rural northheast Colorado, recorded the state’s lowest unemployment, with 69 unemployed people in a labor pool of 4,295 for a rate of 1.8%.
The CDLE’s monthly “Colorado Employment Situation” report analyzes “non-farm payroll jobs.” The numbers are not adjusted for seasonal changes in industries such as construction and tourism.
Both Colorado and New Mexico draw their data from surveys done by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
