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FOURTH QUARTER 1995 IN REVIEW
ALL INDUSTRIES

Employment change from last quarter+ 0.7
Employment change from year ago+ 3.8
Wage change from year ago+ 7.8

QUARTERLY

Colorado employment at 1,845,601 showed mild gains over last quarter, up 12,556. Fourth quarter, though, is typically slow as intensifying weather and temperatures cause many industries to slow down. Agriculture, at the end of its season, dropped 6232 employees and Construction dropped 2278. Mining continued to lose employment with decreases associated with slowed drilling activity. Services is typically slow this time of year. Employment dropped 407 with layoffs in restaurants and recreation activities following the closure of the summer tourist season. In both absolute numbers and percentages Government generated the largest increase over the quarter. Employment jumped 12,115 due to schools returning from summer break. Christmas hiring impacted Retail employment up 3846.


ANNUAL

Annually, Colorado gained 67, 242 employees. Growth has slowed to levels not seen since 1993. However, only two industries reflect losses over the year; Mining and Manufacturing. Losses in Mining continue, down 1231 employees, due to low prices for metals and decreased drilling. Manufacturing losses and the increase in TCPU reflect a large SIC change which occurred in January. Services reported the largest employment gain over the year up better than 26,000. Gains were a combination of strong demands for computer services, temporary help and health care services. The perception of Colorado as a growing, vibrant state with healthy personal incomes contributed to Retail expansions and employment increases of 15,683.


 % EMPLOYMENT CHANGE
 QUARTERLYANNUAL
AGRICULTURE-20.77.5
MINING-4.3-7.8
CONSTRUCTION-2.13.6
MANUFACTURING1.1-0.2
TCPU1.99.4
WHOLESALE14.2
RETAIL1.14.4
FIRE1.41.2
SERVICES-2.45.4
GOVERNMENT4.21.6


Colorado Employment and Wages (ES202) Fourth Quarter 1995