Employment by the Federal Government continued to decline in Colorado in 1997. Thirty-three percent of all covered Federal employment in Colorado is classified as U.S. Postal Service. The growth rate in Postal employment decreased for the third consecutive year, adding only 76 jobs. The Largest decline was within Health Services, down 504 to 2,849.

The largest Department next to the Postal Service based on the number of covered employees was the Department of Defense with about 11,700 employees. Only civilian military employees are counted in the ES202 report. The next largest Department is Interior with approximately 7,200 employees. Other large Federal employers include the USDA with about 11,700, Justice with 2,000, Commerce with 1,500, Transportation with 1,400, Energy with 900, EPA with 700, US Court with 450 and Labor with 425.