Colorado’s unemployment rate ticked up slightly in July, but remained well below the national average and marked the 15th month in a row it has stayed below 3%.

The rate stood at 2.8% last month, just one-tenth of a percentage point higher than the 2.7% rate logged in June, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s most recent data released Friday.

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped a bit to 3.5% in July.

“July marks the 15th straight month the state’s unemployment rate has been below 3%,” said Ryan Gedney, senior economist, in a press conference Friday. “Only twice has that been accomplished over a longer period of time.”

Those two times were 17-month streaks below 3%, the first from 1999-2001 and the second from 2016-2018, he said.

The number of unemployed Coloradans increased by 3,300 in July to 95,000.

“I do want to note that Colorado’s labor force grew by 3,400 last month, and that’s the seventh straight month with gains of at least 3,000,” Gedney said.

One of the industries driving the low unemployment rate was government, which added 2,700 jobs in July.

“That’s the third straight month with increases of 2,000-plus in that industry,” Gedney said.

He attributed most of that to local governments hiring, especially school districts hiring more teachers.

“That’s something we’ve really discussed over the past couple of years is that the education sector was really lagging due to pandemic impacts,” he said. “I think what we’re seeing is a rebound in those employment levels.”

The professional business services industry also showed gains in July, adding 2,600 jobs. Meanwhile, the leisure and hospitality industry shed 3,500 jobs from June to July.

Colorado’s labor force participation remained at 68.7% in July, the same as the two months prior. The national labor force participation rate stood at 62.6% in July.

Gedney pointed out the labor force participation rate for those aged 25 to 54 reached an impressive 87%.

“That marks the first time since 1999 that the state’s 25-to-54 participation rate has reached 87%,” he said.

As far as unemployment rates in Colorado cities, Pueblo notched the highest at 4.8%. Boulder and Fort Collins marked the lowest rates, at 3.3% and 3.1% respectively. The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metropolitan statistical area stood at 3.4%, according to the report.

The Colorado county with the highest unemployment rate was Las Animas at 5.8%, while Jackson and San Juan counties tied for the lowest rate at 1.9%.