Colorado’s unemployment rate hit 4.5% in March as tens of thousands of people in the state lost their jobs because of the new coronavirus. That’s the highest level the state’s unemployment rate has been since August 2015. In February, Colorado’s unemployment rate was 2.5%. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said the national unemployment […]
unemployment
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Politics and Government
Colorado unemployment claims passed 100,000 last week as job losses continue to outpace Great Recession levels
Good news and bad news with Colorado’s unemployment numbers. The bad? Initial claims reached a record-setting 104,217 in just one week, ending April 11, and more than double the prior week. The good: That means the computer systems and processes are working more smoothly at the state Department of Labor and Employment. With so many […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Employer-based insurance is a crumbling defense against a global pandemic
The losses inflicted by SARS-Cov-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, have been staggering. In the U.S., over 555,000 have fallen ill, more than 22,000 have perished, and even our most optimistic models suggest we should steel ourselves for a grim course through at least the end of summer. In Colorado, prior to Gov. Jared […]
Posted inArts, Business, Coloradans, COVID, Culture
Colorado nonprofit coffers run dry during surge of demand sparked by coronavirus shutdown
Operators fielded seven times more calls than normal to a Colorado 2-1-1 hotline seeking food, rent, utility and child care assistance in the days after Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ordered nonessential businesses to close and residents to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus. With 127,393 Coloradans filing initial unemployment claims over a three-week period […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Wilson: Struggle of Love Foundation distributes food to those hit hardest by coronavirus crisis
Putting on my mask and rubber gloves, I joined the volunteer warriors unloading the semi truck at 12000 E. 47th Ave. in Denver. Most of us would have been working at this time, but with record unemployment, we were sent home with no word of a return date. Rather than staring at the wall, Netflix […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
Colorado unemployment claims slowed last week, but are still far outpacing Great Recession levels
Gig workers and other independent contractors can start applying for unemployment benefits next week, at the earliest, according to Colorado’s labor department, which is still preparing its computer systems to accept the new type of applicants for the first time. Such workers typically don’t qualify for benefits because they don’t pay into the state unemployment […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
How the closure of two Vail restaurants shows coronavirus’ domino effect on the food-service economy
EDWARDS — The cows are calving, and of course they come during a surprise blizzard. “That one there about froze to the ground last night,” says Mike Eaton, pointing to a calf huddling in the mud beneath his mother’s hooves as the morning sun melts spring snow. Eaton is dumping fresh hay on a trailer […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
Colorado’s hospitality industry hardest hit by coronavirus unemployment, with claims up 600% in a week
Three weeks after Colorado’s first government-mandated shutdowns occurred, the state labor department continues to see no end to job losses blamed on the new coronavirus. And to little surprise, the hotel, restaurant and leisure industry were hit the hardest early on. While the numbers are still coming in for this week — some 40,000 unemployment […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
Keep your workers, the loan is forgiven: How Colorado banks are coordinating a massive coronavirus lifeline
As coronavirus cases in Colorado’s mountain communities reached 50, Karen Hoskin made the difficult decision to temporarily close the tasting room of Montanya Distillers. She gave the affected workers two weeks pay and hoped to reassess soon. That was more than two weeks ago. Hoskin, who founded the Crested Butte rum maker in 2008, is […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Politics and Government
6 ways Congress’ $2 trillion aid package will help Coloradans weather coronavirus
With Congress’ passage Friday of a $2 trillion aid package to help Americans weather the impacts of the new coronavirus, Coloradans will soon see a host of benefits geared toward getting them through the coming weeks and months. The 880-page stimulus bill, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump, includes at least $2.2 […]