County

Rio Blanco County unemployment rate dives in August

RBC I After more than six months in a row in which the Rio Blanco County unemployment rate fell by one-tenth (.1) of a percent, that good news was magnified several times by the county unemployment rate for August.

Since early this year, the county’s jobless rate had steadily been dropping but by a consistent .1 percent monthly to reach one of the state’s lowest unemployment rates of just 4.2 for July. In August, the county’s jobless rate fell by .7 percent to just 3.5 percent. That puts Rio Blanco County as No. 16 lowest among Colorado’s 64 counties.
According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, there were 4,532 in the county’s available workforce for August, and there were 4,374 working and only 158 persons on unemployment in the county. In July, that number was 4,264 persons in the available workforce, there were 4,085 who were employed and there were 178 residents on unemployment.
Those figures are greatly improved over August 2013, when there were 4,505 in the available workforce, there were, 4,299 who were employed and there were 206 on unemployment, for a rate of 4.5 percent, a full percentage point higher than in August this year.
Throughout Colorado, the state unemployment rate has also taken a large dive in the past year.
In August 2013, state unemployment rate, while still well below the national average, was 6.5 percent, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. In August this year, the Colorado jobless rate had fallen an impressive 1.7 percent to 4.8 percent and an impressive .5 percent since July of this year.
This year in August, there were 2,819,828 in the workforce and there were 2,684,091 residents who were employed. There were 135,737 who were unemployed for the rate of 4.8 percent. In July this year, there were 2,843,236 in the available workforce, 2,691,158 who were employed and 152,078 unemployed for a jobless rate of 5.3 percent. A year ago, there were 2,771,811 in the available workforce, 2,590,270 residents with jobs, and the number of jobless was 181,541 for an unemployment rate of 6.5 statewide.
The Colorado counties with the lowest unemployment rates (and their county seats) are: 1. (tie) Baca (Springfield) and Cheyenne (Cheyenne Wells) with 2.1 percent unemployment rates; 3. (tie) Hinsdale (Lake City) and Yuma (Wray) with 2.3 unemployment rates; and 5. (tie) Jackson (Walden) and Kiowa (Eads) counties with 2.4 percent unemployment rates.
The five Colorado counties with the highest unemployment rates (and their county seats) are: 1. Costilla (San Luis) with an 8.6 unemployment rate; 2. Saguache (Saguache) with an 8.6 jobless rate; 3. Huerfano (Walsenberg) with a 7. 2 jobless rate; and 4. (tie) Pueblo (Pueblo) and Conejos (Conejos) counties with 6.9 percent unemployment rates.

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  • Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
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  • It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 
🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week.
Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! 
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Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
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The 2024 Meeker High School boys basketball team held their awards banquet last week. Jace Mobley was named Player of the Western Slope League and all-conference, Ryan Sullivan all-conference, Jonathon Fitzgibbons all-conference, Ethan Quinn honorable mention all-conference, Jacob Simonsen honorable mention all conference. Mobley will play in All State games. Coach Klark Kindler was named Western Slope Coach of the Year. Left to right: Bryan Rosas, Simonsen, Quinn, Fitzgibbons, Mobley and Sullivan.
The 2024 Meeker High School boys basketball team held their awards banquet last week. Jace Mobley was named Player of the Western Slope League and all-conference, Ryan Sullivan all-conference, Jonathon Fitzgibbons all-conference, Ethan Quinn honorable mention all-conference, Jacob Simonsen honorable mention all conference. Mobley will play in All State games. Coach Klark Kindler was named Western Slope Coach of the Year. Left to right: Bryan Rosas, Simonsen, Quinn, Fitzgibbons, Mobley and Sullivan.
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It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 
🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week.
Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! 
We appreciate all your continued support!
It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week. Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! We appreciate all your continued support!
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View on Instagram |
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Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line. The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale. Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch. See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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