Denver Area Employment Growing This Year

DENVER-Finally, some good news for the local economy. The five-county Denver Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area added 25,300 jobs in the first eight months of the year, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The report is watched closely by the commercial real estate community, which is looking for signs that the economy may be near a bottom.

Through August, the Denver PMSA saw a 2.2% increase in job growth, making it the third-best in the nation on a percentage basis.

The three top sectors adding jobs since January: services, 14,300 jobs; construction, 7,300; and retail trade, 4,600.

“Given the state’s ranking several weeks ago based on July to July job growth statistics, we decided to take a look at how the metro area was doing this year, compared to other large metropolitan areas,” says Denver Metro Chamber economist Patricia Silverstein of Development Research Partners, who compiles the monthly report. “We were somewhat surprised but encouraged to see that while the recovery has not taken hold, the metro area is actually faring better than many areas in the country.”

“We’re pleased to see the job growth and the metro area faring comparatively well but we still have a long way to go,” says Joe Blake, president of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. “The chamber is committed to creating more jobs, especially high paying jobs to utilize our highly-educated workforce.