Colorado Overview

Jobs in Colorado are concentrated in technology and services. Colorado is known for its strong concentration of educated high tech workers, especially in the mile-high city of Denver. The Centennial State’s energy sector and stable real estate market helped ease it through the recession successfully. Colorado and its 2.7 million workers have seen a slow pace of recovery so far, but conditions are expected to accelerate gradually.

Colorado Job Opportunities

Colorado is expanding work opportunities in such areas as biotech, photonics, homeland security, aerospace and renewable energy. As home to numerous federal facilities and the US Air Force Academy, the state also has a strong government presence.

The trade, transportation and utilities industry dominates employment in Colorado, followed closely by the government sector, which has notably continued expanding in Colorado while contracting in most other states. Other critical hiring sectors include professional/business services, leisure and hospitality, and education/health services. Nearly every sector has demonstrated growth with the exception of construction and information services, which have reported mixed performance.

Colorado Employment Trends

The volume of Colorado job opportunities is positive and expanding. The state’s unemployment rate, which hovered around 9 percent for much of 2010, dipped below 8 percent in early 2012. Colorado payrolls have been expanding since the end of 2010 and have remained consistent and strong since then. Online hiring has shown recent solid monthly increases, but is still below prerecession levels.

Moody’s Analytics expects Colorado jobs to grow 2 percent between Q2 2012 and Q2 2013, higher than the 1.3 percent growth rate expected in the nation’s job supply over that time.