Colorado’s unemployment rate, 3.4%, has stayed just lower than the national average, currently 3.5%, for months.

Two experts weighed in recently on how Colorado’s economy has passed the recovery phase from the pandemic, and how it seems ready to weather a potential recession storm.

The two are Jared Bernstein, a member of President Joe Biden’s Council of Economic Advisors, and Ryan Gedney, principal economist for Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Bernstein pointed to the state’s strong job market, which should help support workers who are still facing inflation challenges.

“I think one of the important things that I’ve always appreciated about the Colorado economy is its diversity,” Bernstein said in an interview with The Denver Gazette. “We mentioned the manufacturing jobs, that’s an important piece to the puzzle, but of course tourism is important there, so is the hospitality industry with restaurants and hotels.

“There’s even a tech center that’s been growing up over the years. So I think one of the reasons why Colorado has been doing well — both in job market terms and in terms of broader economic gains — has a lot to do with the diversity of industries.”

More than 220,000 jobs have been created statewide since Biden took office, he said, and more than 8,000 have been in manufacturing.

The state’s job market has recovered from the pandemic according to Bernstein and Gedney.

“We’re seeing at a national and state level almost no movement that would indicate anything of a recession from a job loss prospective,” Gedney said. “The unemployment rate is still extremely low at 3.4%.”

Through the American Rescue Plan, there was a federal push to ensure there were “shots in arms and checks in pockets,” according to Bernstein.

Gas prices continue to come down in Colorado as well, though Bernstein said the government is working to bring those prices down even further.

Compared to the rest of the country, Colorado has average, if not lower-than-average, gas prices, an unemployment rate that is below the national average — but housing costs that are “a challenge,” according to Bernstein. Current housing-cost trends are due to both local market influences and increased mortgage costs due to higher interest rates nationwide. He expects to see some of those issues recede thanks to interventions in interest rates set by the federal reserve.

Denver accounts for about 55% of employment in the state, according to Gedney. According to the most recent Colorado employment situation report in September, 5,600 nonfarm payroll jobs were added that month.

“We really had a historically tight labor market, some of that’s pandemic effects and some of that is returning to pre-pandemic levels,” Gedney said. “There’s been a ton of competition for labor across industries, across different businesses.”

From a federal perspective, the economy has created 10 million jobs and unemployment is at a 50 year low according to a statement from Biden on the third quarter GDP report.

Seasonal work in the ski industry is not expected to effect Denver’s job market, according to Gedney. However, retail, warehousing and delivery jobs are expected to increase beginning in November.