Whether it resulted from an improving economy or from a smart career move, Lindsay Brady’s new job as a massage therapist came just in the nick of time for the Westminster mother of two.
Nineteen months of unemployment left Brady and her husband, a trainer for a transaction-processing company, heavily indebted and weary from financial stress.
“Last year was financial hell. My credit is shot,” said Brady, 28, who had a close brush with foreclosure and borrowed $10,000 to retrain after a seven-year career in corporate sales. “To have everything taken away from you really puts things in perspective.”
Brady starts her 30-hours-a-week job this week working for a quickly growing local salon and spa operator, earning about $25 an hour plus tips. “I am nervous to get back out there again, but I am also very excited to start a fresh, new career,” she said.
The local job market is picking up steam, albeit slowly, giving some hope to job seekers who have had little to cheer during the past few years.
Colorado employers added 12,300 jobs, on a seasonally adjusted basis, from September to November. It was the first time in three years that wage and salary jobs in the state grew for three consecutive months, and economists expect a gradual upward trend to continue this year with 10,000 to 20,000 new jobs created.
Economic tailwinds are strengthening nationally, as well. The holiday retail season was strong, and consumer confidence is improving. Republicans and Democrats in Washington recently approved tax relief and an extension of jobless benefits. Unemployment claims are falling, indicating fewer layoffs, and other economic indicators point to growth in 2011.
But all that good news stands in the shadow of grim reality. It may take many years to replace the 150,000 jobs lost in Colorado during the past two years. Meanwhile, population growth is increasing competition for each position.
Put another way: There are 230,000 unemployed Coloradans, about 11 for each job that will be created in the state this year under an optimistic scenario.
“Conditions are improving, but for many folks who are unemployed, it’s just not moving fast enough,” said economist Patricia Silverstein of Jefferson County-based Development Research Partners. “When you take a look at the economic indicators on a national level, you’re seeing a lot of improvement, but employers are being sluggish about responding.”
Regina Serna of Denver, who lost her sales job in the construction industry 15 months ago, said she spends five to six hours a day looking for and applying for jobs on the Internet and networking through professional associations. She also volunteers and sits on several nonprofit boards.
Responses, much less interviews, are rare. She worries that companies are automatically passing over more experienced workers.
“I’m trying so hard right now to find a job, you have no idea,” said Serna, 48, who hopes to find work in commercial construction. “I have no choice but to be optimistic. However, I feel the economy is still hurting and is on a very, very slow recovery.”
Mike McCutchen of Aurora recently applied for a job running the Denver sheriff’s impounded-vehicle lot. But when he went in to take a test, he saw at least 300 other applicants. McCutchen, 53, is a golf pro who wants to return to the profession but sees little opportunity currently because golf courses were overbuilt and demand is way down.
“Who’s going to go pay $50 to play golf when they can use it to go with their family somewhere?” he said. Still, McCutchen said of his prospects, “I’m counting on things getting better. I’m going to do what I can to make it better.”
Job-seekers are responding to the economy’s mixed signals in different ways. Many have become more active. Corporate recruiters reported a 17 percent increase in the number of applications per job opening between March and December 2010, according to a Corporate Executive Board survey. In Colorado, the number of active job-seekers rose modestly last year after a steep decline in 2009.
Yet nationally, the number of unemployed people who want a job but have stopped searching because they are discouraged rose 42 percent in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Job-seekers who have another source of income in the household, who can move in with family or who have gone back to school are most likely to re-enter the market when prospects improve, said Alexandra Hall, the state’s chief labor economist.
“Some people who have other options choose to do other things, like cooking at home or clipping coupons. There are all sorts of things people can do to stretch one income further,” Hall said. “When people see jobs continuing to be added, it motivates them to consider getting back into the labor force.”
Brady, the massage therapist, submitted at least 360 resumes since losing her job in June 2009, but she received little response. She started out looking for a position in her field — sales and business development. But after a few months, and with the birth of her second child in late 2009, she had a revelation.
“I always thought massage therapy would be fun and relaxing,” she said. “I figured I would like to work in a place where people are happy to see me and not be thinking, ‘Oh, God, what does she want to sell me now?’ “
She researched and learned that the field is growing, then enrolled in a 50-week night-school program while she continued looking for a day job. Brady received a $2,500 federal grant and borrowed $10,000 to pay the rest. She lined up her professional certificate and state registration before finishing classes so she could take a job quickly, and she received several offers.
The year proved to be trying. Brady and her husband, Ryan Enright, were both taking night classes. Soon after Brady’s program began, their newborn son became ill and had to be hospitalized. Enright’s parents drove from the Western Slope in a snowstorm to be with him while Brady and Enright attended their classes.
Last summer, Brady lost her unemployment benefits when Congress delayed renewal of an extension. The couple were unable to pay their mortgage but qualified for a loan modification through the federal Making Home Affordable program.
There was no extra spending money — not even for their 5-year-old daughter’s birthday. But Brady said the sacrifice will pay off Tuesday when she starts her new job, which pays better than her old one and with fewer hours.
“I weathered the storm,” she said. “We made it through, and soon there’s going to be a paycheck — not from the state but from my new employer — because I followed my dream.”
Greg Griffin: 303-954-1241 or ggriffin@denverpost.com
