Colorado’s average employment through August is 58,500 jobs greater than the same period last year. After a strong first quarter, the rate of job gains has tapered off slightly.
About 64% of total jobs are added in the top five sectors:
- 11,500 jobs Accommodations and Food Services
- 7,300 jobs Health Care
- 6,800 jobs Construction
- 6,200 jobs Administrative and Waste Management, excluding employment services
- 5,400 jobs Retail Trade
The Leisure and Hospitality sector has added about one-in-four jobs. The L&H sector includes:
- Accommodations and Food Services
- Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation.
Primary jobs/high-tech-related sectors added about 10.7% of total jobs:
- 4,900 jobs Professional, Scientific, and Technical
- 1,100 jobs Corporate Headquarters (MCE)
- 900 jobs Manufacturing
- -900 jobs Information.
Cber.co tracks 22 sectors of the economy. Growth is broad-based and 19 are adding workers.
The following sectors have been flat or they posted minimal gains: Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities; Financial Activities; and State Government, excluding Higher Education.
The three sectors showing jobs losses are:
- -1,300 jobs Federal Government
- -900 jobs Information
- -600 jobs Natural Resources.
Combined, these three sectors have lost 2,800 jobs in the first eight months of 2013 compared to the same period last year.
At this point, it appears that total state employment will be in the range of 55,000 to 60,000 for 2013. This is slightly higher than the Cber.co forecast.
©Copyright 2011 by CBER.