Publication Library

Browse by tag

referendum c state budget tabor fmap recovery act 2010 colorado legislature health reform medical loss ratio taxes jobs and economic security transparency and accountability revenue annual report colorado center on law and policy snap food stamps health coverage health affordability earned income tax credit children health law and policy update child tax credit exempla hospitals colorado benefits management system public benefits weston v hammons election 2010 poverty health insurance work supports self-sufficiency standard jobs and economy unemployment insurance health access mental health high-risk pool health co-ops pre-existing conditions medicaid aiming for the middle gallagher amendment amendment 23 public option 2009 colorado legislature grandfathered health plans cobra health insurance exchange income 2007 colorado legislature arveschoug-bird tobacco securitization federal budget rainy day fund refund anticipation loans 2008 colorado legislature welfare reform colorado works deficit reduction act citizenship referendum d 2010 colorado legislatutre old age pension tax credits tax exemptions tax deductions provider rates state of working colorado government election 2008 education income tax single sales factor state children's health insurance program social security early retiree reinsurance program hospital provider fee insurance access sustainable growth rate formula recission prescription drugs medicare false claims act colorado all-payer health claims database insurance affordability 2011 colorado legislature election 2011 immigration child health plan plus health law and policy refugees family economic security economic self-sufficiency hospital conversion sidebar newsletter elder economic security long-term care accountable care collaborative 2012 colorado legislature

Sign Up

Receive email updates

Thanks To Our
Generous Donors Like:

Colorado Health Foundation

Colorado Recovery Watch

National and state unemployment rates experienced minimal change in August. Colorado was one of 12 states that saw no change in the unemployment rate. Moreover, a decrease in employment compounds the shrinking labor force. Data released recently by the U.S. Census Bureau show increasing poverty in Colorado and a simultaneous decrease in the number of people lacking health insurance. The slow recovery has left many Coloradans relying upon public assistance programs for health care and help buying food.

Unemployment
Colorado saw no change in the unemployment rate from July to August, remaining at 8.5 percent. Similarly, the national unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent. (Figure 1) Colorado’s unemployment rate has remained below the national average for five consecutive months, yet ranks 26th worst among states.

Current unemployment compared to past recessions
Though all the recessions in the past 30 years affected Colorado’s unemployment rate, the 2007-09 recession has had an unusual residual effect on Coloradans. The highest the unemployment rate reached during the past two recessions was 6.3 percent before declining again. The current downturn has been far worse as Colorado’s unemployment rate has been two full percentage points higher than that level for more than two years. (Figure 2) Moreover, the state’s unemployment rate has not been below the current 8.5 percent since April 2009.

 

Unemployment rate and the labor force
The labor foce today is significantly smaller than it was at the start of the recession. There are about 68,000 fewer active workers in the labor force today than there were when the labor force peaked in Novermber 2008. (Figure 3) About 2,000 workers left the labor force from July to August. Tying the recent declines in the labor force to the flat 8.5 percent unemployment rate shows a lack of available jobs as well as a number of discouraged workers.

 

 

Job shortfall
The job shortfall measures the difference between actual employment and what employment would have been if jobs had continued apace with working-age population growth instead of plummeting during the downturn — in short, how far the state has been “set back” by the recession in jobs.

Colorado’s jobs shortfall, or the difference between the number of jobs Colorado has and the number it needs to regain its pre-recession employment rate, is 257,407. That number includes the 110,500 jobs lost plus the 9,500 jobs needed each month to keep up with the 6.3 percent growth in population that Colorado has experienced in the 43 months since the recession began.3 (Figures 5-6)

As the jobs deficit shows, Colorado has not recovered from the Great Recession. As elected officials at both the state and federal level make policy choices to deal with budget shortfalls, they should avoid decisions that threaten to throw this very tentative recovery into reverse. Putting workers back to work needs to be the primary goal for lawmakers.

 

 

Increase in public health insurance
Data released Sept. 13 by the U.S. Census Bureau show the importance of safety-net programs such as Medicaid, which has accommodated dramatically more Coloradans since the Great Recession began in December 2007. Because of small sample sizes, the data are presented as two-year averages, diminishing the magnitude of changes.

The data show the share of people lacking health insurance in Colorado, known as the state’s rate of “uninsurance,” decreased 2.4 percent from 2006-07 to 2009-10. That includes a 5.1 percent decrease in the rate of uninsurance for children. Medicaid has played a key role in expanding health coverage, increasing enrollment to an additional 4 percent of the state’s population since 2006-07 and to an additional 7.2 percent since the beginning of the decade. (Figure 7)

 

Food assistance
Coloradans continue to increasingly rely on public help buying food to mitigate the effects of the recession. According to the most recent count in June, 464,498 Coloradans received nutrional assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. (Figure 8) That is an increase of 4,206 people from May, again highlighting the importance of the state’s safety nets.4

 

Increase in poverty underlines depth of recession
Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau show Colorado’s poverty rate for 2009-10 was 12.3 percent, an increase of 2.5 percent since 2006-07. That means an estimated 617,000 Coloradans are in families with incomes at or below the federal poverty level of $10,890 for an individual or $22,350 for a family of four. Median household income decreased by $4,356 since 2007-08 to $58,647 in 2009-10.

Rising poverty across the state and increased use of public medical assistance programs and food stamps should raise warning flags to policymakers. The state must continue to provide vital services to Coloradans while they face the challenges of a slow economic recovery. Doing otherwise would threaten the health and vitality of our state.

Contact: Ben Felson
CC/Rice Fellow
303-573-5669, ext. 316

Released Sept. 16, 2011

End notes
1 Colorado Legislative Council Staff for the chart design.

2 Economic Policy Institute analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Survey data.

3 Economic Policy Institute analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Survey data.

4 Analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture SNAP program data, provided by: “Latest Available Month - State Level Participation,” USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

 

View PDF Document