Manufacturing gained 2070 employees growing 1.0% over last quarter. Printing-Publishing (27) climbed by 606 employees. Increases were seasonal and tied to Christmas and Valentine greeting card production. Transportation Equipment (37) reported the second largest gain having added 590 employees. Increases were due to changes in reporting by a large employer. Previously, employment was estimated from information collected at various worksites. Employment now comes from the corporate office and is thought to contain counts of active employees and retirees. Misc Manufacturing (39) gained 286 employees. Gains were seasonal occurring in Dolls, Toys, Games & Sporting & Athletic Goods (394) due to the start-up of a new employer with a hefty Christmas demand. Although this employer was on our file a year ago productions was still limited and therefore not exhibiting the seasonal tendencies that occurred this year. Six sectors lost employment over the quarter. Rubber-Misc Plastics (30) reported the biggest employment loss dropping by 172. Cutbacks at one plant and a number of project completions caused the decrease.
ANNUAL
Employment in Manufacturing grew 2.1% over a year ago adding 4127 employees. Transportation Equipment (37) showed the strongest increase up 1141 followed by Electrical Machinery (36) up 1023. Growth in Transportation Equipment was due to expansions at a few facilities and a change in reporting methods by one firm which alone added over 500 employees. Better than half of the growth in Electrical Machinery occurred as a result of increases in Electronic Components & Accessories (367) which contains semiconductor manufacturing. Another portion of the increase in Electrical Machinery was due to expansions undertaken over the year by one large firm which added most of the 257 employees to Communications Equipment (366). Food Products (20) suffered the largest annual decline dropping 1070 employees. Meat Products (201) lost 565 employees due to cutbacks and the closure of a plant in second quarter 1996. Beverage (208) losses of 505 occurred over the year and resulted from cutbacks and outsourcing primarily in the beer brewing industry.
Colorado Employment and Wages (ES202) Fourth Quarter 1996
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