Colorado's unemployment rate fell for the second month in a row in July, even as the national labor market is seen as softening.

The state's jobless rate declined to 4.5% last month, down two-tenths of a percentage point from June, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment reported Friday.

While the national unemployment rate increased slightly in July, Colorado's unemployment rate has surpassed the national rate for nine straight months, since November. The state labor agency reported the national unemployment rate was 4.2% in July, up one-tenth of a percentage point from June.

Bill Craighead, program director of the UCCS Economic Forum at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, said he was cautiously encouraged by the latest unemployment figures.

"I don't want to get ca

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