Colorado unemployment rate holds steady at 4.2 percent

Chart: Unemployment rate

the state reported Friday.

More people joined the labor force in February, which caused the jobless rate to remain unchanged despite the added jobs.

The state's jobs picture continues to show improvement over this time last year, the Department of Labor and Employment says.

Over the year, nonfarm payroll jobs increased 79,400 with an increase of 74,700 in the private sector and an increase of 4,700 in government. The largest private sector job gains were in construction, education and health services, and leisure and hospitality. Information declined over the year.

Over the year, the unemployment rate is down one and four-tenths of a percentage point from 5.6 percent in February 2014. The number of Coloradans participating in the labor force increased 34,000, total employment increased 73,000 and the number of unemployed decreased 39,000. The national unemployment rate declined from 6.7 to 5.5 percent from February 2014 to February 2015.