2nd Quarter 2006
REGION 9
Unemployment
Figure 5 presents each of the Region 9 county monthly unemployment and average Region 9 unemployment rates; for comparison purposes, state and national unemployment rates are also shown. We present the standard deviation of unemployment across the five counties to illustrate how differences in unemployment rates across the counties have evolved over time (STDEV_R9). Unemployment in Region 9 is very cyclical, therefore, all data presented is smoothed to remove these seasonal movements. Overall, unemployment in Region 9 is higher than the state and nation, with the exception of La Plata. The standard deviation has remained fairly constant over the period, implying that cross county unemployment has stabilized.
Table 5 presents the annual average unemployment rate for Region 9, Colorado, and the US for 2001-2006 (data for 2006 is only through June, the latest available data). The trend in unemployment largely mirrors the state and country, slowly rising over the five year period (and adding credence to the “jobless” recovery).
1If the standard deviation rises, this is interpreted as a worsening in the relative labor markets and vice-versa if it falls.
