CES Written Comments for Denver MSA, February 2004
Denver MSA Preliminary Estimates
By: Jessica Wagner
Total Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment: -3,800 (0.3%)
February OTM Change in Denver Nonfarm Employment
10,000 8,000
employment change
6,000 4,000 2,000 0 -2,000 -4,000 -6,000 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Denver MSA after 2003 includes Broomfield County
Denver MSA employment declined by 3,800 in February and surpassed last year’s over-the-month decline of 900 jobs. The majority of February’s loss occurred in Trade, Transportation, & Utilities, which fell by 2,900. The majority of the supersector’s loss came from seasonal declines in Retail Trade. Other major industry sectors recording declines included Construction; Leisure & Hospitality; Manufacturing; Professional & Business Services; Information; Natural Resources & Mining; and Other Services. Only three major industry sectors recorded gains: Government added 1,900, while Financial Activities and Educational & Health Services both added 900.
February OTM Change in Denver MSA Em ploym ent by Supersector GOV OTH LH EDH PBS FA INFO TTU MAN CON NRM -3,500 -3,000 -2,500 -2,000 -1,500 -1,000 -500 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500
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Since last February, the Denver MSA has lost 20,000 jobs, for an annual growth rate of -1.8%. The Denver MSA has not recorded an annual growth rate this low since October 2002.
Natural Resources & Mining: -100 (2.0%)
Natural Resources & Mining showed little change, declining by 100 jobs in February. Total employment now stands at 5,000 and is equal to the average employment recorded for 2003. Over the past couple of years, Natural Resources & Mining employment has fluctuated between 4,800 and 5,200.
Construction: -1,000 (1.4%)
Denver’s Construction employment declined by 1,000 jobs over the month to 71,600. Most of the loss came from cuts in Specialty Trade Contractors, which fell by 1,000. Construction of Buildings and Heavy & Civil Engineering experienced small offsetting movements of 100 jobs. Total Construction employment has declined by 8.1% since last February, which amounts to a loss of 6,300 Construction jobs over the year. Cuts in Specialty Trade Contractors account for the majority of the loss with the sector contracting by 5,500 jobs over the year.
Manufacturing: -600 (0.9%)
Manufacturing employment declined further in February, losing 600 jobs. Total Supersector employment now stands at 68,700. February’s decline was concentrated in Durable Goods, which lost 700 jobs. NonDurable Goods posted an over-the-month gain of 100 jobs. Denver has lost 3,300 Manufacturing jobs since last February; the majority of the lost jobs occurred in Durable Goods. The Durable Goods sector has been particularly weak, cutting 6.1% of its employment since last February alone. Comparatively, the Non-Durable Goods sector has trimmed 2.1% of its employment over the same time period.
Trade, Transportation, & Utilities (TTU): -2,900 (1.3%)
All three major sectors of TTU recorded losses in February. A decline of 2,300 in Retail Trade accounted for the majority of the loss. Additionally, Wholesale Trade and Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities declined by 300 jobs each. Employment in Wholesale Trade declined for most of 2003, adding jobs only once. Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities faired slightly better with three months of recorded growth last year. However, due to losses experienced during most of 2003, both sectors are recording employment below year-ago levels. Employment in Wholesale Trade has fallen 3.6% since last February, while Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities employment has declined by 4% over the same time period.
Information: -700 (1.3%)
Information employment continued to decline in February; payrolls were reduced by 700 jobs over the month. February’s decline was the third straight month that Information employment has fallen in the Denver MSA. During 2003, November was the only month to record a gain when 100 jobs were added. As a result, employment has been lagging year-ago levels. Since last February, 2,900 jobs have been cut from Information, for a loss of 5.2% of supersector employment.
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Financial Activities: +900 (0.9%)
In October 2003, Denver employment in Financial Activities grew beyond 100,000 total jobs for the first time and stayed above this level during the fourth quarter of 2003 and then fell to 99,800 in January. However, with the addition of 900 jobs in February, Financial Activities employment is now back over the 100,000 total job level. There are two major sectors in Financial Activities: Finance & Insurance and Real Estate, Rental, & Leasing. The Finance & Insurance sector is the bigger component, accounting for approximately 72% of supersector employment. Since February 2003, Finance & Insurance has added 2,100 jobs for an annual growth rate of 3%. The Real Estate, Rental, & Leasing sector, while making up only 28% of Financial Activities employment, has experienced a higher growth rate than Finance & Insurance. Since last February, the sector has added 1,300 jobs for an annual growth rate of 4.9%.
Professional & Business Services: -600 (0.4%)
Professional & Business Services payrolls fell 600 in February to 165,900; the loss was not concentrated in any one sector. Professional, Scientific, & Tech Services, the largest component at 80,500 total employment, fell 300, while Management of Companies declined by 200. Administrative & Support Services was relatively unchanged, falling 100 over the month. Employment Services, a component of Administrative & Support Services, fell 700 in February after declining by 1,300 in January. The supersector as a whole has shed 7,600 jobs, or 4.4% of employment, since February 2003. Last year, Professional & Business Services employment peaked at 180,200 in August, but has fallen every month since then.
Educational & Health Services: +900 (0.8%)
Educational & Health Services employment expanded by 900 jobs in February after declining by 600 jobs in January. Health Care & Social Services contributed 500 to the gain, while Educational Services added 400 to February’s employment. During 2003, the Educational & Health Services supersector added an average of 400 jobs a month. Since last February, 4,400 jobs have been added to the supersector for an annual growth rate of 3.9%. The majority of this growth has occurred on the Health Care & Social Services side, which has accounted for 3,600 more jobs since February 2003.
Leisure & Hospitality: -1,100 (1.1%)
Leisure & Hospitality cut 1,100 jobs in February following a decline of 2,800 in January. All of February’s loss occurred in Accommodation & Food Services as employment in Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation remained level. Within the Accommodation & Food Services sector, 900 jobs in Food Services & Drinking Places were cut, while Accommodation was responsible for a decline of 200 jobs. Since February 2003, Leisure & Hospitality has shed 1,200 jobs, resulting in an annual growth rate of -1.2%.
Other Services: -500 (1.1%)
Between January and February, employment in Other Services declined by 500 jobs. Within the supersector, jobs in Repair & Maintenance were unchanged at 12,100, and Personal & Laundry Services
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employment was up 100 to a total of 12,500 jobs. Over the year, Other Services employment has stayed relatively flat with an annual growth rate of -0.7%.
Government: +1,900 (1.2%)
Government employment grew by 1,900 jobs in February to a total of 161,100. This over-the-month increase is slightly less than last February’s gain of 3,200 jobs. Seasonal hiring in State Government Education (+3,100) accounted for all of February’s gain. A loss of 100 jobs in Federal Government and 1,000 jobs in Local Government partially offset the gain at the State level. Total Government employment has fallen over the year by 1,500 jobs. While all areas of Government have shown declines when compared with year-ago levels, Local Government has shed the most. Since last February, 800 jobs have been cut from Local Government.
Produced By: State of Colorado: Bill Owens, Governor Colorado Department of Labor & Employment: Jeffrey M. Wells, Executive Director Labor Market Information: Alexandra E. Hall, Director Current Employment Statistics (CES): Joseph F. Winter, Supervisor Contact Information: Visit the CES Home Page: http://www.coworkforce.com/lmi/CES/ceshome.htm Phone: Labor Market Information (303) 318-8850 Email: lmi@state.co.us
These Current Employment Statistics data and any accompanying analysis are in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may be reproduced without permission. Please reference, Source: “Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Labor Market Information”.
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