Covered employment and wages in Colorado continued to increase in 1997. The state recorded an increase of 79,261 jobs on an annual average basis from 1996. This was the largest increase since 1994 when employment increased by 84,377 jobs. Total covered wages increased by $5.27 billion, which was the largest increase, ever recorded. The average annual covered wage increased by 5.4 percent to $30,057, which was the largest increase in at least a decade.

Employment in private industry increased by 4.7 percent or 74,536 jobs. Growth in government employment has been considerably less than in private industry due to the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, which limits government expenditures to the combined rate of population growth and the increase in the Boulder-Denver-Greeley Consumer Price Index. Government employment increased by 1.6 percent since 1996.

Several factors have contributed to the rapid employment growth that Colorado has experienced in the nineties including low interest rates, a relatively low cost of living, an appealing lifestyle, and the availability of qualified workers. Some of the competitive advantages that Colorado has enjoyed have recently decreased, considerably. The Boulder-Denver-Greeley CPI has been rising faster than the national average CPI. The unemployment rate has decreased and average wages have increased. In addition, the rapid increase in population has led to increased congestion on the roads and highways.

Services employment accounted for 34 percent of all private-sector covered jobs in Colorado in 1997 and 42.6 percent of the increase in private-sector jobs. This strength was associated with an increased use of temporary help firms and employee leasing companies, increased employment in high technology as well as increases in establishments that are traditionally associated with being Services oriented such as health care and accommodations.

Another strength of the Colorado economy in 1997 was construction. Factors contributing to this strength were relatively low interest rates, an increasing population, companies relocating to Colorado, and investment in infrastructure. The construction boom led to increased employment in industries that are not classified under construction including related financing and sales, manufacturing and wholesaling of construction materials, and landscape services. Potential threats to this growth are rising interest rates, the availability of water and decreasing population growth.

The bulk of the growth in employment has occurred along the I-25 corridor from Fort Collins to Pueblo and westward along I-70. Areas that are not served by the interstate highway system have not experienced the same level of growth. Congestion along these corridors may significantly limit future expansion.

Employment Widespread growth in covered employment continued in Colorado in 1997. Fifty-six of 63 counties experienced an increase in average annual employment. Forty-nine had increases of over 2 percent and 15 increased by 5 percent or more. The growth was concentrated in counties along the I-25 and I-70 corridors.

The largest percentage increase from the previous year occurred in Douglas County, up 22.7 percent. Employment in Douglas County has increased by 131.6 percent in five years. The second largest gainer was Huerfano County, which increased by 13.7 percent from the previous year and 53.9 percent since 1992. Other large one-year percentage gainers included Mineral at 9.6 percent, and Eagle at 9.4 percent.

The county that added the largest number of jobs in 1997 was Arapahoe, which increased by 13,926 to 236,184. Second was Denver, which increased by 12,930 to 431,229. Other counties that experienced employment increases of 5,000 or more included El Paso at 9,184, Jefferson at 7,114, Douglas at 6,905 and Boulder at 6,613

Metro area growth continued to expand into adjacent non-urban counties other than Douglas in 1997. Elbert County employment increased from 1,298 in 1992 and 1,997 in 1996 to 2,168 in 1997. Teller County employment increased from 3,900 to 5,809 and 6,296 and Park County 1,013 to 1,638 and 1,702, respectively.

The northern Front Range counties of Larimer and Weld continued to add significant numbers of jobs, but at a slower pace than the state average. Larimer County employment increased by 3,284 to 105,079. There were 80,795 covered jobs in Larimer County in 1992. Weld County added 1,958 jobs to average 61,043 in 1997.

Ski oriented counties in the central mountains experienced higher rates of covered employment growth than non-central mountain ski counties with the exception of Grand County which only increased by 172 jobs to 5,896. Eagle County employment was up 8.6 percent to 24,729, Summit was up 4.4 percent to 17,216, and Pitkin increased by 4.3 percent to 15,571. Routt County increased by only 2.5 percent to 11,383 and San Miguel by 2.3 percent 4,113.

The seven counties that experienced a decline in employment lost a combined 332 jobs. The majority of the decline occurred in Gilpin County, which lost 179 jobs to average 4,710 in 1997, although employment increased by 1,155 jobs or 34.2 percent since 1992.

Average Wages Fifty-nine counties experienced an increase in the average annual covered wage in 1997 and only four experienced a decline. The highest average wages were along the Front Range in counties with high levels of employment. In fact, all of the 7 counties with over 100,000 jobs had higher average wages than the 56 counties that had less than 100,000 covered jobs.

As in 1996, Arapahoe County edged out Denver for the highest average annual wage at $35,297 compared to $35,020. Two other counties had average annual wages in excess of $30,000, Boulder at $33,158 and Jefferson at $31,759. The average wages in Adams, Larimer and El Paso were $28,610, $27,402, and $27,297 respectively.

Many of the smaller counties registered the largest gains in 1-year average annual wage. This may be due to their small sample size rather than an actual trend. On a 5-year basis, the largest percentage growth occurred in Custer, up 27.9 percent to $17,692 and Gilpin, up 25.1 percent to $22,959. The largest 5-year increases in dollars were Arapahoe, up $7,460, Boulder, up $7,330 (Due to work study students being dropped from counts.), Denver, up $6,003 and Gilpin, up $5,168.

Total Wages All but five counties experienced an increase in total covered wages in 1997. Nineteen counties recorded gains of 10 percent or more. On a statewide basis, total covered wages have increased by 48.4 percent since 1992.

Denver accounted for over a quarter of all covered wages paid in Colorado at $15.1 billion. This was more than the 57 smallest counties combined. The second highest total belonged to Arapahoe County at $8.8 billion. Other counties with over $5 billion in annual covered wages were Jefferson at $6.3 billion, El Paso at $5.8 billion and Boulder at $5.1 billion.

The largest dollar increase in total wages was in Denver, up $1.28 billion. Other counties with increases in excess of $½ billion were Arapahoe at $959 million, El Paso at $561 million, and Boulder at $539 million. Only five counties recorded a decrease in total wages. They were Dolores, Lake, Gilpin, Moffat and Costilla.

On a five-year basis, the largest percentage increase in total covered wages was in Douglas County at 162 percent. Other counties with five-year increases in excess of 100 percent were Custer, at 138 percent, and Elbert, at 111 percent.