Covered employment and wage growth continued at a rapid pace in 2000. The primary factors driving this growth have been an increasing population and the lottery mentality of equity investors. Colorado’s rapidly increasing population, which was consistently under estimated by the United States Census throughout the nineties, has increased demand for all types of real estate and services. This increased demand for real estate has in turn raised the wealth of Coloradoans.
The increased demand for real estate has had a positive affect on all major divisions, not just FIRE and Construction. Declines in the traditional areas of Agriculture have been offset by increases in demand for Landscaping Services. The same can be said of the Mining division. Declines in Metal Mining have been offset by increased demand for construction related mined commodities. Declines in cost sensitive manufacturing sectors have been mitigated by increases in locally manufactured construction products. The construction boom has created related jobs in Wholesale and Retail Trade and every other division.
In 2000, private industry employment and average wages continued to expand much more rapidly than government employment and average wages. Private industry employment increased by 4.1 percent versus 2.45 percent for government employment. The average government wage increased slightly faster than inflation at 4.1 percent. The average private industry wage increased by 9.4 percent.
The disparity between the wealthy and poor counties continued to widen. In 1995, the highest average county wage divided by the lowest average county wage was 2.48. In 1999 and 2000, the figures were 2.66 and 2.87 respectively.
Some of the competitive advantages that Colorado has enjoyed continued to deteriorate in 2000 at the same time that its susceptibility to business cycles has increased. Unemployment has decreased, wages have risen relative to other states and the cost of living moved above the national average based on the CPI-U. The business cycle mitigating government sector, has decreased as a percentage of total employment every year since 1991. In addition, the Colorado economy has increased its exposure to companies that raise capital through either the highly volatile NASDAQ or the junk bond market.
| 1999 Employment | 2000 Employment | % Change | 1999 Wages ($) | 2000 Wages ($) | % Change | |
| Statewide | 2,105,286 | 2,186,765 | 3.87% | 71,978,550,859 | 81,273,226,192 | 12.91% |
| Agriculture | 31,367 | 32,963 | 5.09% | 670,013,408 | 746,471,190 | 11.41% |
| Mining | 13,007 | 12,880 | -0.98% | 877,368,969 | 833,544,305 | -5.00% |
| Construction | 146,810 | 162,604 | 10.76% | 5,074,746,592 | 6,010592,153 | 18.44% |
| Manufacturing | 204,120 | 205,640 | 0.74% | 8,904,488,728 | 9,756,726,255 | 9.57% |
| TCPU | 136,322 | 140,674 | 3.19% | 6,945,655,749 | 7,694,550,327 | 10.78% |
| Wholesale Trade | 105,954 | 110,408 | 4.20% | 4,888,181,283 | 5,738,974,079 | 17.41% |
| Retail Trade | 401,201 | 414,558 | 3.33% | 7,278,070,091 | 7,906,696,819 | 8.64% |
| FIRE | 136,333 | 137,598 | 0.93% | 6,332,363,987 | 7,199,305,936 | 13.69% |
| Services | 618,572 | 650,169 | 5.11% | 20,578,423,589 | 24,238,672,938 | 17.79% |
| Government | 311,499 | 319,140 | 2.45% | 10,423,806,017 | 11,141,256,487 | 6.88% |
Covered employment continued to increase at a rate that is significantly faster than the United States average in 2000. Forty-nine of Colorado’s 63 counties recorded an increase in annual average employment. The most populated counties along the interstate highways accounted for the most additional jobs. The outskirts of the major population centers recorded the fastest percentage increases.
The Northern Front Range counties of Weld and Larimer continued to grow at a fast pace. Larimer County added 5,802 jobs and Weld County added 2,582 jobs. Both figures were records. These counties enjoyed cost advantages over their southern neighbors.
Growth slowed in the Southern Front Range. El Paso County growth slowed from 4.3 percent to 3.4 percent. Pueblo did much worse. Employment growth reversed an eight-year growth trend with a 1.1 percent decline. These Southern Front Range counties also enjoyed a cost advantage in attracting businesses over their northern neighbors.
It was an uneventful year for employment statistics at the ski counties. The largest increase occurred in Summit County at 4.2 percent. Growth in San Miguel decreased from 8.1 percent to 1.5 percent. Employees in ski counties have a much higher incidence of dual job holding, which can be difficult to interpret when comparing ES202 employment with workforce data.
Employment growth slowed in Mesa County. The county added 1,227 jobs in 2000. Over the previous six years, Mesa County added an average of 1,896 jobs per year. In contrast, the neighboring county of Garfield added 1,167 jobs compared to an average of 868 in the previous six years.
In Southwestern Colorado, La Plata County grew at a faster rate than in the previous three years with an additional 703 jobs. Growth in neighboring Montezuma County slowed from 296 jobs added in 1999 to 73 jobs added in 2000. Employment growth also slowed in Archuleta County from 283 additional jobs in 1999 to 131 additional jobs in 2000.
On a five-year basis, the three largest counties based on the number of jobs in 2000, also were the three counties that added the most jobs. Denver County added 57,434 jobs. Arapahoe County added 62,141 jobs. El Paso County added 44,454. The most significant five-year loser was Lake County with a loss of 125 jobs over five years.
Average Wages Sixty of Colorado’s 63 counties recorded an increase in average wages in 2000. The only counties to record a decrease were Hinsdale, Kiowa and Dolores. Jackson, Las Animas and Costilla Counties have all seen their average wages decline since 1995.The largest average wage increase occurred in Pitkin County with a $9,743 rise to $40,728. The second highest single year increase was in Boulder County at $5,561 or 13.9 percent. The average ES202 wage in Boulder County has increased by 70.6 percent over five years to $45,562.
Although Boulder County has narrowed the gap considerably, Arapahoe County still had the highest annual average wage in Colorado. The average wage in Arapahoe County increased by 7.8 percent to $46,254. The average wage in Denver County increased by 11.6 percent to $44,343. The lowest average wage is still in Hinsdale County at $16,116.
Average ES202 wages can be difficult to interpret, since the program does not adjust for the number of hours worked or the propensity to hold multiple jobs, which varies widely by county. In addition, the program does not produce any inferences about the variance of the wage distribution.
Total Wages Total wages in Colorado increased at an increasing rate in 2000. The $9.29 billion increase to $81.27 billion, was the largest ever recorded. The second largest increase occurred in 1999 at $6.47 billion.
Denver County accounted for 29 percent of all of the total statewide wage increase. Wages in Denver County increased by $2.7 billion to $20.8 billion. The other counties that recorded increases in excess of a billion dollars were Boulder and Arapahoe. Total wages in Boulder County were up 22.8 percent to $8.2 billion. Total wages in Arapahoe County were up 11.7 percent to $13.15 billion.
The largest one-year percentage increase was not in Douglas County this year. It was in Pitkin County at 34.3 percent. The second largest increase was in Douglas County at 25.9 percent.
The largest five-year percentage increase again was in Douglas County at 198.4. Elbert County was a distant second at 123.5 percent. The third largest increase was in Boulder County at 97.3 percent.
Only twelve of Colorado’s 63 counties saw their total covered wages increase faster than the state average of 12.9 percent.
| Employment | Covered employment in Colorado increased by 3.87 percent or 81,479 jobs. This was the largest number of additional jobs since 1994 when Colorado added 84,377 jobs. The Denver MSA expanded by 3.79 percent or 42,544 jobs. Employment in the Balance of State increased by 3.96 percent to 1,021,391. Every division expanded except Mining. As usual, Services added the most jobs at 31,597. On a percentage basis, tiny Hinsdale County edged out Douglas County for the distinction of being the fastest growing county in Colorado. Many of the lesser-developed counties along the Front Range experienced very rapid rates of employment growth. In sharp contrast, many counties that are removed from the interstate highway system continue to be in a recessionary environment. Forty-nine of Colorado’s counties recorded an increase in employment. The fourteen counties that lost employment lost a total of 787 jobs. |
| Wages | Colorado experienced its largest ever increase in covered wages in 2000. Total wages increased by $9.3 billion or 12.9 percent to $81.27 billion. The increase was not distributed equally between the counties. The wealthy counties got richer while the poor stagnated. Total wages in the Denver MSA increased by $5.45 billion to total $48.26 billion. Wages in the Balance of State increased by $3.85 billion to $33.0 billion. Only four sparsely populated counties experienced a decline in total covered wages. Mining was the only division to record a drop in total wages. The largest increase was in Services with a $3.66 billion increase to $81.27 billion. The Denver-Boulder-Greeley CPI-U has exceeded the national CPI-U for nine consecutive years. In 2000, the Denver-Boulder-Greeley CPI-U increased by 3.96 percent versus 3.36 for the comparable national index. This was the first year since 1984 that the Denver-Boulder-Greeley CPI-U exceeded the national index. (173.2 versus 172.2) |
| Colorado County Employment Summary Table | Colorado County Wage Summary Table |