Douglas County was the only large Colorado county to see employment growth last year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Employment fell in eight of the nine Colorado counties with the most workers, but Douglas County had growth of 0.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday.
Between December and June, however, the county lost more than 2,000 employed workers and the unemployment rate rose from 5.1 percent to 6.7 percent. And wages in Douglas County fell 5.9 percent last year, the largest drop among the nine counties.
County economic development director Meme Dunckel Martin speculated that the job growth was related to retail and restaurants.
The county is home to such companies as Dish Network Corp., CH2M Hill Cos. Ltd. and Western Union Co.
“We want businesses that match the skills of our workforce. It’s very highly skilled, well-educated,” Martin said.
Nationally, wages increased 2.2 percent from December 2007 to December 2008, but El Paso, Larimer and Weld counties all topped that, the bureau reported. The average weekly wage grew 3.9 percent in El Paso County to $834.
Among large counties, where at least 75,000 people are employed, Denver had the highest average weekly wage at $1,111. Broomfield was highest of all counties at $1,118. The lowest average weekly wage was $457 in Baca County.
Almost 79 percent of Coloradans with jobs are in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi contributed to this report.
