SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo — Recently released numbers show an increase in the county’s unemployment rate in December, when the county was restricted to level red on the COVID-19 dial. But heading into March, and down to level yellow on the dial, Summit County employers say they need more employees.
According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Unemployment, the unemployment rate in Summit County rose by 1% from November to December last year. The unemployment rate was 7.8% by the end of December, with 1,723 people unemployed. In November, 1,316 people were reported unemployed.
Danielle McQueen, grant and evaluation manager at the Family and Intercultural Resource Center, said the center has been hearing contradictory information from people applying for rental assistance, the majority of whom are in the service industry.
“The data that I’m seeing shows that they have work, but they just do not have enough income to afford their basic needs,” McQueen said.
Among Summit County residents who received rental assistance since Dec. 3, about 48% said they couldn’t afford their basic needs, according to a survey sent out by the resource center. Of the 157 respondents, 45% said they could afford basic needs but couldn’t save money, and only 7% said they were in a stable enough economic situation to save money.
As for people’s stress level, 20% reported that their stress level was significant, 51% said that they go between feeling OK and not OK, and 29% said they were stable.
> Watch video above: Colorado labor officials give update on rollout of Phase 2 unemployment benefits.
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