PUEBLO, CO — Colorado’s unemployment rate fell to 3.4% in the month of June, but Pueblo County’s unemployment rate is still the second highest in the state, at 5.3%.
This difference is not new, according to Ryan Gedley, Principal Economist of Colorado Labor and Employment. When looking back to the 90s, Pueblo County’s unemployment rate has been one of the highest.
“Pueblo historically does have a higher unemployment rate than the state,” said Gedley.
Gedley notes there are many factors that could determine why this is the case. Pueblo’s isolated location and its history of steel manufacturing are associated with booms and busts, demographics, educational attainment, and even employer competition.
“Employers across the state across industries are having difficulty competing for talent because everyone else is looking for talent,” said Gedley.
Businesses around Pueblo are hiring, and some are having difficulty finding and retaining employees.
Karissa Saunders, the owner of Schlep’s Sandwiches, has been short-staffed since the COVID-19 capacity restrictions were lifted, and she’s been trying to find employees.
“I haven't been getting very many applicants, there's this disconnect between people that are too overqualified and I can't afford or they're too young,” said Saunders.
Saunders has had a help wanted sign on her door for weeks, encouraging people to drop off their resumes but she has seen very few.
Without enough employees to meet demands Saunders has had to turn a lot of work away, change her menu, and stop catering the amount she used to.
“I'm feeling kind of disheartened, and I don't wanna quit but I feel like I'm getting to where I've been here for 8 years and I finally got business to where I always dreamed it would be and it just doesn't feel sustainable,” said Saunders.
Many of the employees she’s been able to have over the last couple of months are in high school and when they return back to school, she will need to hire even more.
Gedley says Pueblo regained all the jobs it lost in the pandemic.
While the unemployment rates of the state and Pueblo County have rebounded, businesses in the area are still trying to hire workers to keep their businesses afloat.
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