Employment in the Retail industry rose 1.1% over last quarter adding 4403 employees. Quarterly changes were affected by the ending of the summer tourist season and the beginning of the ski and Christmas holiday season. General Merchandise (53) experienced a strong fourth quarter adding 4149 employees. Department stores hired 3897 up from the 3346 hired at the same time a year ago. Misc Retail (59) gained 3204 employees with 2170 from Misc Shopping Goods. Misc Shopping Goods contains some highly seasonal businesses such as sporting goods, ski equipment and toys and hobby stores. Employment in Furniture Stores (57) rose by 1617. Home furnishing, consumer electronics and record and tape stores produced most of the employment increases responsible for the sector gain. Eating & Drinking (58) seasonally declined by 4635 employees. About 900 of the loss occurred in Metro Denver due to closures of outdoor patios. The lull between summer tourist season and the ski season created a loss of almost 1600. Building Materials-Garden (52) declined by 1130 employees. More than half of the decline was reported in home improvement stores due in part to a large company closure.
ANNUAL
The Retail Trade industry ranked second in employment growth having added 13,064 employees for a gain of 3.3%. With more than one third of the industry growth Eating & Drinking (58), up 4570, was the largest growing sector. Better than half of the restaurant growth occurred in Metro Denver. Auto Dealers-Service Stations (55) reported the second strongest annual growth up 2007 employees. Yearlong hiring by automobile dealerships added 792. SIC changes in January were responsible for the addition of 463 to auto supply stores. Employment in the sale of used vehicles by used vehicle dealers advanced by 461 with about 150 from SIC changes. Misc Retail (59) added 1903 employees over a year ago. Its largest subsector expansion took place in Sporting Goods & Bicycle Shops up 475. Stationery Stores, which includes office supply stores, gained 328 employees and Jewelry Stores gained 205. Apparel & Accessories (56) was the only sector to decline over the year. Employment fell by 348. Shoe stores suffered the most significant decline dropping by 367. Yearlong staff cutbacks and the closure of a shoe store chain in first quarter of 1999 created the sector loss.
Colorado Employment and Wages (ES202) Fourth Quarter 1999
