In a past life, Susan Ohlhaber helped people as a mental health counselor. Actually, it wasn’t that long ago. It was just last year. Then the COVID-19 pandemic began and she was laid off. Ohlhaber, who lives in Morrison, is now learning the difference between a jig saw, a circular saw and a reciprocating saw. […]
unemployment
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: How much federal COVID relief went to unemployed Coloradans?
The day is finally here and some will weep but others will likely be cheering. It’s the last day Colorado will pay pandemic unemployment benefits, if you’re reading this on Sept. 4. According to Department of Labor and Employment officials, about 107,000 Coloradans will no longer be eligible while another 30,000 people will no longer […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: There are more job openings than Coloradans on unemployment. Matchmaking isn’t easy.
The pandemic has created an out-of-balance workforce, and there could be more big changes next month. On one hand, somewhere around 100,000 Coloradans will stop receiving weekly unemployment checks after Sept. 4, when federal pandemic benefits end. On the other, thousands of employers are trying to fill 126,773 jobs, the state’s official job board showed […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: It’s a worker’s labor market in Colorado as wages rise
As Labor Day creeps closer, unemployed workers in Colorado are probably already mourning the coming loss of federal benefits on Sept. 4. Some don’t want to believe it’s happening, Erin Joy Swank said Friday. She’s one of the moderators of the private Facebook group for unemployed Coloradans that has been tirelessly trying to steer people […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
At least 87,000 Coloradans will lose all pandemic unemployment benefits in two weeks
With two weeks left of the federal unemployment program, more than 116,000 out-of-work Coloradans will be impacted by the end of federal relief, and 87,147 people will lose all benefits, state labor officials said. “These federal programs are ending effective the week ending Sept. 4, which is the final week that claimants can request payment […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: People say they want to work from home, but they’re returning to the office in droves
As large swaths of the office-worker community went remote during COVID and showed that it could work, many want to keep it that way, including folks who took the latest What’s Working survey on working from home. Most respondents did at one time or another during the pandemic (73.7%) and still do (63.2%). Increased productivity […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Transportation
Coloradans are paying a lot more for Uber and Lyft trips — if they can even find a ride. Here’s why.
Nick Kroeker was out with his wife and two friends in Denver’s hip River North neighborhood earlier this summer when the group decided to call it a night and head home to Centennial just before midnight. Kroeker opened up his Uber app to hail a ride home and was shocked. The cost for the 19-mile […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Housing, News
What’s Working: Desperate times for employers as 134,000 Coloradans still are on federal unemployment
Located not far from the Telluride Ski Resort gondola, The Alpinist and The Goat needs help. Preferably, two waiters, a dishwasher and a prep cook. The downtown Telluride fondue restaurant pays wait staff a little more than $12 an hour, which is higher than the state’s $9.30 an hour for tipped employees. The days are […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: As federal unemployment ends in 7 weeks, Colorado businesses are optimistic about their pandemic recovery
How optimistic are you about Colorado’s economic recovery? If you were one of the 250 business leaders surveyed for the University of Colorado business school’s recent quarterly economic report, your optimism was at “a record high.” The explanation? “It was around the reopening of the economy, the vaccination rate and demand,” said Brian Lewandowski, executive […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Unemployment may be dropping in Colorado, but for at least one vulnerable group it’s rising
In April, May and June of last year, Colorado’s unemployment rate was well over 11%. Thankfully, as we have started to come out of the pandemic, that number has fallen considerably, down to 6.2% as of May. Soon, I hope, we will return to pre-COVID numbers — between 2.5% and 3%. However, there is a […]