After Legalizing Marijuana, Unemployment Plummets In Colorado
June 6, 2017
According to a report from the New Data Frontier, which focuses on cannabis industry data, there could be as many as 283,000 jobs in cannabis by 2020.
Matthew Huron examining a marijuana plant in his Denver, Colorado grow house. (Ed Andriesk/APi)
Colorado —Three years after legalizing cannabis, Colorado has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. “While the national unemployment rate dropped to 4.3 percent in May, the lowest since 2001, Colorado’s jobless rate is the nation’s lowest at 2.3 percent,” CNBC reported Monday.
According to Governor John Hickenlooper, multiple factors have contributed to Colorado’s job growth, including the state’s business-friendly policies. He touts the state’s very low business tax rate, noting Colorado has “one of the lowest business income tax levels at just a little over 4.6 percent.”
This approach has helped create over 60,000 jobs in the clean energy sector, a fact that should please both business and environmental advocates. One of the main factors in Colorado’s successful economy, however, is undeniably the cannabis industry.
