O’Donnell: Colorado isn’t creating jobs—it’s creating unemployment

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice 

January 2023 was a changeover month of sorts in the United States because it marked a division between the taxpayer subsidized COVID economy and the less subsidized post-COVID economy.

According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the United States added 3,149,000 jobs between January 2023 and June 2025, a 2.0 percent increase for the nation as a whole. 

Employment growth so far this century has averaged just under one percent a year, so the 2.0 percent figure is roughly on track (although preliminary July BLS data are less positive and subject to revision).

At the same time, unemployment increased by 1,268,000, a 22.1 percent rise. This is a less positive aspect of the economy that few seem to be talking about, even though more than seven million Americans were unemployed in June 2025.

When the BLS releases data each month, it is natural for the media to unintentionally project that employment and unemployment numbers apply equally across the nation. This is not, nor will it ever be, the case because states and regions within those states are so very different from each other.

For example, although national employment is up 2.0 percent between January 2023 and June 2025, Texas employment rose 5.6 percent while Colorado grew only 0.6 percent.

Forty-one states and the District of Columbia experienced stronger job growth rates than Colorado. 

Even within Colorado, some regions perform better than others. The Pueblo MSA hasn’t added any net new jobs since January 2023. Even where jobs were being added in the state, approximately four out of every five were in government, leisure and hospitality (bars and restaurants), or health care and social assistance. 

It is unlikely these three sectors will continue to add jobs as Colorado’s population growth has flattened.

On the unemployment side of the ledger, the number of unemployed Coloradans increased by 58,722—or 60.8 percent—between January 2023 and June 2025, the second-highest rate of increase in the nation and almost three times faster than the national average. By way of comparison, Texas’ unemployment increased by just 4.7 percent.

Most states are doing a much better job of creating employment opportunities and keeping unemployment in check. 

Here in Colorado, the gross mismanagement of the economy—combined with the regulatory burden now faced by businesses both big and small in the sixth most business-regulated state in the nation, according to the Colorado Chamber of Commerce—is a big reason Colorado is doing so much worse economically than almost every other state.

Mike O’Donnell is a small business advocate, nonprofit executive and economic development leader based in Kirk, Colorado. He currently serves as Executive Director of Prairie Rose Development Corp., a mission-driven lender supporting underserved entrepreneurs across the state.Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the