Colorado labor department officials say the seasonally adjusted state unemployment rate in June hit 5.1 percent, the highest rate since September 2005.

That's up from 4.9 percent in May and up from 3.7 percent in June 2007.

Colorado Department of Labor and Employment executive director Donald Mares says employment growth hasn't been fast enough to accommodate Colorado's growing labor force.

An estimated 2.6 million Coloradans have jobs, which is up about 39,100 from a year ago.

But job growth for the past 12 months has slowed to about 1.3 percent.

The national unemployment rate in June held steady at 5.5 percent.