DENVER - Boulder and Broomfield counties again fared better than the state and nation as a whole, in monthly unemployment figures released Friday, Aug. 17, by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

The Boulder-Longmont metropolitan statistical area recorded a jobless rate of 6.5 percent, by far the lowest along the Front Range urban corridor and unchanged from June's figure. Broomfield County posted a 7.7 percent unemployment rate for July, up slightly from 7.6 percent in June.

Colorado's statewide jobless rate for July edged up a tenth of a point to 8.3 percent, marking the first time since October 2005 that the state's rate matched that of the nation. The statewide rate had been 8.2 percent in June and 8.1 percent in May.

According to the CDLE, the increase in the statewide unemployment rate was caused by a larger decline in the number of people reporting their status as employed than the decline in the number of people actively participating in the labor force.

The largest private-sector job gains in the state from June to July were in leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, professional and business services and other services, according to the CDLE. There were no significant declines from June to July.

The Denver-Aurora metropolitan statistical area recorded 8.2 percent jobless, down slightly from June's 8.3 percent.

Costilla County, in southern Colorado's San Luis Valley, scored the highest July jobless rate at 14 percent. Jackson County, just across the Continental Divide from Larimer County, had the state's lowest rate at 3 percent.