Unemployment numbers continue to decline in Colo.

(Photo: Flickr/brizzle born and bred)

Photo: Unemployment (iStock)Colorado unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent in May, putting the state close to unemployment levels from prior to the last recession.

Friday's report from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment shows the state added more than 9,000 jobs last month.

The sectors showing growth include the construction industry. Alexandra Hall, the department's chief economist, says that growth is an indication of an improving economy overall.

"Because when other industries are doing well they’re investing in infrastructure, they’re expanding, and that generally means greater employment in construction," Hall says.

Colorado’s unemployment is now at its lowest since November 2008.

And May represented the 31st consecutive month of job growth.

But some parts of the state are not recovering as well as others.

Hall says things are still slow, for example, in the Grand Junction area.

"It’s still got a ways to go, just because how highly it was impacted by oil and gas exploration that left the area, now focusing on north central Colorado," she says.

In addition to the construction sector, the hospitality industry was among those that gained workers in May.