FIRE experienced its first quarter of losses since first quarter of 1995. Employment dropped by 343 down 0.3%. Three sectors declined with the largest loss occurring in Credit Agencies (61) down 685. Large cutbacks and many closures in Mortgage Bankers & Brokers caused the current decline in Credit Agencies. Insurance Carriers (63) dropped 355 employees over the quarter. Hospital & Medical Service Plans experienced two large layoffs leaving the subsector down by 272. Increasing interest rates slowed business at many title companies causing employment to drop by 258. Employment in Real Estate (65) seasonally fell by 261 due to the end of summer maintenance and management activities. Four sectors gained employees over the quarter, offsetting to some degree, the industry losses. The largest increase occurred in Security & Commodity (62) up 659 employees. More than half of the sector gain resulted from expansions occurring in two large security brokerage firms. Banking (60) added 169 employees. Expansions in service in National Commercial Banks constituted most of the Banking gain. Insurance agents (64) added 125 employees with increases originating mainly from new business.
ANNUAL
Annual growth in the FIRE industry dropped to its lowest level in four years. Growth at 1.6% added 2191 employees. Security & Commodity (62) grew by 2244 employees over the year. Expansions by establishments involved in the purchase, sale and brokerage of securities generated 1347 new employees. Businesses involved in the provision of investment advice added 914 employees. Banking (60) grew by 1227 employees with increases in both state and federal commercial banks. Real Estate (65) rose by 695 employees. Most of the gain occurred in Real Estate Agents & Managers. Increasing interest rates have negatively effected employment in this industry. Employment in Credit Agencies fell by 1614 the result of losses of almost 1300 in Mortgage Bankers & Brokers. Personal Credit Institutions lost more than 400 employees due to the closure of a large personal financing institution earlier in the year. Insurance Carriers (63) lost 115 employees, but subsector activity was mixed. Title Insurance dropped by 375 employees. Hospital and Medical Service Plans suffered cutbacks dropping by 465 employees. The management of pension, health, welfare and retirement funds gained 425 employees.
Colorado Employment and Wages (ES202) Fourth Quarter 1999
