Colorado has more jobs than ever before, but recovery from the Great Recession continues to elude some areas of the state.
Those are some of the findings included in a recent report from Colorado State University’s Regional Economics Institute (REI). The report notes the economy in the northern Front Range has seen the most job activity, while the Colorado Springs and Grand Junction areas continue to lag.

“Although the state economy overall has performed better than the nation since the end of the recession, many Colorado communities, businesses and individuals are still struggling with the aftermath,” said Martin Shields, who directs REI and is a professor of economics in CSU’s College of Liberal Arts. “The varied economic progress across Colorado shows the diversity of the state's economy. Yet it also highlights the need for more geographically targeted economic development policy. What works in one region will not necessarily work elsewhere.”

Recovery from the Great Recession, which officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, has been slow. Colorado lost 146,000 jobs in those 18 months and only recently regained them.

The Colorado Dept. of Labor and Employment-Labor Market Information reported the state had 2.37 million non-farm jobs in December 2013, which is nearly 30,000 more than reported on the eve of the recession. Colorado has added 170,000 jobs since the state’s economy bottomed out in January 2009.

Greeley (6.8%), Fort Collins-Loveland (4.3%) and Boulder (3.4%) have shown the largest job increases, with the Denver-metro area (3.1%) close behind. Shields cited the rapidly growing oil and gas industry in Weld County, and the knowledge economies in Fort Collins-Loveland and Boulder, as the drivers behind those increases.

同时，科罗拉多斯普林斯的工作少7,400个（降低2.8％），大交叉路口比衰退前的水平少3,000个就业机会（下降4.7％）。科罗拉多斯普林斯（Colorado Springs）最大的热门歌曲是计算机和电子产品制造业，自2007年以来，有1,210个工作岗位丢失了。

“Grand Junction's resource economy has suffered due to the volatility in natural gas prices and increased supply elsewhere,” Shields said. “Ironically, new oil drilling practices have helped the Greeley area add jobs faster than any other region in the state.”

While Colorado has 1.2% more jobs than it did in 2007, the state’s unemployment rate (6.2%) is still significantly higher that pre-recession levels (3.5%), and there are 169,000 Coloradans actively looking for work—an increase of more than 76,000 job seekers. Shields attributes that increase to steady growth in the state’s labor force since 2007.
另外，增加工作并不意味着更多的家庭收入。

In 2007, median household income in the state was $60,943, while current median income is $57,255. Shields said most of the state’s new jobs have been added in the lower-paying health care, food service, and professional and technical service industries.
希尔兹说，需要做一些工作来帮助科罗拉多州的经济从大衰退中充分恢复。

“Even though Colorado has more jobs than ever, many of the newly created positions pay less than average wages,” he said. “As a result household incomes have stagnated. One of the real challenges the state faces is creating jobs that pay higher wages.”