Colorado is expected to be in the top 10 states for job growth in 2015, maintaining strong progress across numerous industries that made 2014 the best year for the state’s job growth in the 21st century.
The
50th annual Colorado Business Economic Outlook report from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder showed 72,900 jobs added in Colorado in 2014, and 61,300 jobs are expected to be added in 2015.
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The Leeds report looked at trends and forecasts for 13 different sectors and is prepared by more than 100 key business, government, and industry professionals.
Here are the top four industries that are expected to show significant job growth in Colorado in 2015:
1. According to the outlook, the most growth is expected in the professional and business services sector, which is projected to increase by 3.3 percent or 12,800 jobs. Economist and professor Richard Wobbekind, the report's author, said part of the strength in the professional and business services sector is linked to high-tech innovations while the other part is attributable to infrastructure development and repair.
2. The leisure and hospitality sector was forecast to be the second-leading job growth sector for 2015, with 11,200 jobs expected to be added.
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3. The education and health services sector should add 9,300 jobs. Many of those jobs are considered public-sector positions,
and in August 2014, The Denver Post reported that Colorado ranked third in the nation in public-sector job growth.
"Every time you cut a teacher or firefighter or nurse, not only is that individual losing income that they would be spending in the local economy, but the school or firehouse or hospital also isn't going to be buying any more equipment, uniforms, pencils, erasers, etc.," David Cooper, an economic analyst who prepared the national study for the Economic Policy Institute, told the Post.
4. The trade, transportation, and utilities sector is projected to add 9,100 jobs. This sector includes everything from wholesale and retail trade to a variety of transportation options including the Denver International Airport and gas pipelines as well as utilities which is the largest provider of jobs in Colorado.
In 2015, Colorado’s unemployment rate is expected to remain better than the national unemployment rate at about 4.6 percent. In his report, Wobbekind showed that between 2013 and 2015, Colorado will record the three best years for job growth since 2000.
Other parts of the Colorado economy expected to see big growth in 2015 include agriculture, natural resources and mining, and construction.
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