GOVERNMENT

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Employment change from last quarter	+ 2.1
Employment change from year ago	+ 2.4
Wage change from year ago	+ 5.6

QUARTERLY

Employment in Government reached its yearly peak rising by 6438 for a gain of 2.1% over last quarter. Summer hiring for outdoor projects and activities and youth programs typically pushes employment levels up during second quarter. Local government had the largest increase up 4423 employees. General Government added 3080 employees with gains covering a myriad of municipal related activities including outdoor building and grounds maintenance, road paving and summer recreation programs. Some summer recreation programs are reported in Recreation, which reported a seasonal increase of 1043 employees. Only one month into its summer break, education reported a small decline of 156. State government rose by 1578 employees. Education gained the largest amount of new employees up 797. Summer hiring for state parks contributed to the gain of 451 in Land, Mineral, Wildlife & Forest Conservation. Federal government employment grew by 436 over the quarter. Seasonal hiring for national parks and the forest service caused employment to jump. The undercount of about 60 in Adams County first quarter of 1999 also added to this quarter’s federal government growth.

ANNUAL

Annually, Government employment rose 2.4% adding 7344 employees. Local government, which constitutes the largest share of government employment, reported the largest annual increase up 5011 employees. More than half of the gain occurred as a result of staff expansions in education, up 2455. Growth in General Government, up 1318 employees, reflected hiring expansions indicative of the growing Colorado populace. Health Services added 810 over the year with more than half due to expansions within Denver County. State government expanded by 2578 employees. The strongest growing sectors of state government were education and correctional institutions. Education added 1343 employees, correctional institutions gained 655 and expansions within the court system added 238. The Federal government lost employment dropping by 245. Cutbacks leading to the closure of Fitzsimmons Army Hospital and cutbacks at the remaining veterans’ hospitals caused a decline of 232 in Health Services. Other employment declines were realized in the National Park Service, US Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Defense.

Colorado Employment and Wages (ES202) Second Quarter 1999