Colorado’s unemployment rate tumbled again in March as the state’s economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rate slid to 3.7%, down from 4% in February, the Colorado Department of Labor and Environment reported Friday. That’s the lowest level since 2.8% in February 2020, right before the pandemic cratered many industry sectors, forcing mass layoffs.

The national unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% in March.

Colorado’s unemployment rate has declined in eight of the past nine months — the rate was unchanged from December to January.

Other highlights of the report include:

• Colorado’s labor force grew by 12,300 in March to 3,211,700. “The share of Coloradans participating in the labor force improved to 68.9 percent last month, the highest rate since March 2020,” according to a news release. “The state continues to experience a faster rate of recovery in the participation rate than the U.S.”

• Colorado’s employment-to-population ratio has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels as the number of residents holding jobs increased by 21,300 in March to 3,093,500. That’s 66.4% of the state’s older-than-16-years population.

• Counties marking the highest unemployment rates included Huefano, 6.6%, Pueblo, 5.7%, and Freemont at 5.2%. Metropolitan statistical areas of Boulder and Fort Collins had the lowest rates, at 2.7% and 3% respectively.

The statewide rate is adjusted for seasonal changes, while the metro area rates do not include seasonal adjustments.

The number of unemployed Coloradans dropped by 9,000, to 118,200. When the state’s unemployment rate was at 2.8%, there were about 86,000 unemployed residents, said Ryan Gedney, the department’s senior economist, in a press briefing Friday.

“The recovery rate of the state’s unemployment during the pandemic recession has been substantially faster than the past two recessions,” said Gedney. “It took Colorado only 22 months for the unemployment rate to move from its peak rate, which was 11.8% in May 2020, to 3.7%.”

That recovery took 57 months during the Great Recession and 44 months during the early 2000s recession, he said.

Colorado was tied with West Virginia for the 28th lowest unemployment rate in the nation, while Nebraska and Utah had the lowest rates at 2%. New Mexico had the highest at 5.3%.

The sectors that saw the most jobs growth in March in Colorado included leisure and hospitality, which gained 4,200 jobs; professional business services added 1,300 and manufacturing jobs grew by 1,000, Gedney said.

Though the construction industry shed 2,300 jobs in March, Gedney said he was not overly concerned.

“There was a lot of inclement weather during the reference week, and that tends to impact construction employment more than any other industry,” he said. “Secondly, hiring in construction was stronger in February than we typically see for that month. So that could have impacted the change in March.”

Gedney said he would become concerned if the industry lost jobs for multiple months in a row.

“A single data point, of course, does not make a trend,” he said.

Asked when he might expect Colorado to return to pre-pandemic unemployment levels, Gedney it’s possible within a year, “provided there’s not another shock to the economy.”