Hickenlooper plans to address long-term unemployed

Colorado’s unemployment rate is at 4.3 percent. But tens of thousands of residents still have been unable to find a job for more than six months.

It’s an issue Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper says he plans to address soon. Details are being finalized, but Hickenlooper gave local government officials in Colorado Springs this week a glimpse of what his plan will look like.

Hickenlooper says he wants to encourage companies to hire people who have been out of work for several months, and reassure them that the state will provide prospective employees the training they need at community colleges or workplace training sites.

Through October, the state labor department says there were about 48,100 people in Colorado who had been unemployed for at least 26 weeks.