Colorado’s unemployment rate edged up one-tenth of a percentage point last month, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment data showed Friday, continuing a four-month streak of creeping unemployment.

Rising to 3.3% in October, Colorado’s unemployment rate is still below the national level of 3.9%, but state economist Ryan Gedney said it’s worth keeping an eye on.

“I’m still not at this point concerned,” Gedney said during a media call Friday. “But it’s certainly something I think we need to be cognizant of and to continue and monitor.”

Jumps in unemployment over a certain span of time can be a sign of a recession, but Gedney said the probability of a recession remains unlikely. He pointed to the Federal Reserve System’s persistent effort in months past to cool rampant inflation, a byproduct of which can be higher unemployment rates and slower job growth.

While the state’s total labor force fell by 5,600 people, the number of employed individuals fell faster, with a decline of 8,000 in October. That meant the employment-to-population ratio shrunk slightly, from 66.4% in September to 66.2% in October, ranking Colorado sixth among other states for the highest employment-to-population ratio.

Colorado employers added 1,500 nonfarm payroll jobs in October, according to the survey of businesses; 1,700 of which were government jobs, while the private sector lost 200 jobs.

Other key points about the state’s labor situation included:

• October’s unemployment rate of 3.3%, which was the highest the state has seen since March 2022. Colorado’s unemployment rate ranked 26th nationwide tying Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

• The U.S. had an unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, of 3.6% in October. Among Colorado counties 56 had an unemployment rate equal or less than 3.6%.

• Among Colorado’s seven Metropolitan Statistical Areas Pueblo had the highest unemployment rate of 4.3%, while Fort Collins and Boulder had the lowest at 2.8% and 2.9% respectively; Denver, Colorado Springs, Greeley and Grand Junction had unemployment rates between 3.2 and 3.3, all of which are not seasonally adjusted.

• Leisure and hospitality saw some of the largest job gains in October adding 1,500 jobs while construction took the biggest hit with a decline of 1,400 jobs, according to the survey of business establishments.