Retail Trade added 3062 employees growing 0.8% over last quarter. Seasonal increases for Christmas, seasonal losses as the tourist season came to a close and the opening of the Park Meadows Mall in Douglas county effected quarterly employment figures. General Merchandise (53) added 4089 employees, Misc Retail (59) 2881, Furniture/Furnishings Stores (57) 1381 and Apparel & Accessories (56) 1249. All sectors reflected new ventures in Douglas County in addition to hiring for Christmas. Considering gains incurred from new store openings, seasonal gains in this sector were slow. Many stores did not staff for the holiday season as densely as they had a year ago. Restaurant employment fell by 6234. Declines, common following the end of the summer tourist season and closing of many outside patios, were greater than usual.
ANNUAL
Annual growth in Retail Trade was slow adding 7689 employees for a gain of 2.1%. This was the lowest annual gain seen since first quarter 1992 when Retail added only 5772 and a drop from the high of 25,572 added fourth quarter of 1994. All sectors of Retail gained employment over fourth quarter a year ago except Misc Retail (59) which lost 43. employees. This sector was deprived of about 650 employees for seasonal Christmas sales when a service contract was not renewed. Restaurants (58) added the largest number of employees up 3612. Gains are comparable to annual growth the past two quarters. Building Materials-Garden (52) experienced the second largest increase gaining 1158 employees, the result of many new home improvement chain stores in the state.
Colorado Employment and Wages (ES202) Fourth Quarter 1996
![[]](901e02a4.gif){kind=small}
![[]](90000211.gif){kind=small}
![[]](90000269.gif){kind=small}