Colorado jobless rate hits 4.3 percent, lowest since 2008

Photo: Unemployment in Colorado (AP Photo)
Lori Kamlet looks at posted employment opportunites at a Denver Employment office on Friday, July 22, 2011.

Colorado's unemployment rate has dropped by 0.4 percentage point to 4.3 percent in October, the lowest level in more than 6½ years.

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said Friday that private-sector jobs decreased by 2,100 and government jobs increased by 2,400 in October, for a net gain of 300 positions.

Officials say the state has had three years of uninterrupted job growth. The last time Colorado's unemployment rate was this low was in March 2008.

The national unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in October.

State officials say employment statistics are gathered from separate surveys of households and businesses, which sometimes produce conflicting results.