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Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics > Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics > About > Notices

Notice Regarding Suspension of Publication of Colorado Employment and Unemployment Data

BLS has observed data quality problems because of ongoing issues with the modernization of Colorado’s unemployment insurance (UI) system. As a result, BLS is temporarily suspending publication of Colorado employment, unemployment, and wage data.

On November 20, 2024, effective with the release of second quarter 2024 data, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) began suspending publication of industry and substate data from Colorado, though statewide data for Colorado and statewide totals by ownership  continue to be published. Because the QCEW microdata are fundamentally a byproduct of state UI systems, QCEW data quality is sensitive to changes in these systems. The Colorado UI claims data are not adversely affected by the new system; the UI claims data are published by the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.

QCEW data serve as critical inputs into subnational estimates produced by the Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) programs. CES uses the QCEW data—which provide comprehensive counts of nonfarm payroll employment—as the primary source for benchmarking employment estimates. Without accurate Colorado employment levels, BLS will be unable to complete the 2024 benchmark process or to produce accurate monthly estimates for Colorado. Publication of national CES estimates will not be affected.

The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, in turn, uses both CES and QCEW data to produce subnational estimates of employed people, which are critical for calculating civilian labor force levels and unemployment rates. Therefore, BLS also will suspend publication of labor force and unemployment rate data for Colorado and its substate areas. LAUS data revisions for 2024 will use the same inputs from CES and QCEW that had been used during the 2024 estimating year.

Both programs will suspend publication of data for Colorado and its local areas beginning with January 2025 estimates. The schedule of these releases is as follows:

  • State Employment and Unemployment news release for January 2025, scheduled for March 17, 2025
  • Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release for January 2025, scheduled for March 21, 2025

Additionally, QCEW data serve as critical inputs into subnational estimates produced by the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program. The OEWS estimation methodology relies on QCEW employment. The release of May 2024 OEWS data, scheduled for April 2, 2025, will not include data for Colorado and its areas. The OEWS national data may be marginally impacted by the quality issues in Colorado.  

BLS is working closely with Colorado to resolve the data quality issues with the state’s UI data that feed into BLS employment, unemployment, and wage measures. Pending resolution of these data quality concerns, BLS will resume publication of employment, unemployment, and wage data for Colorado as soon as practicable.

Last modified date: December 18, 2024