GRAND JUNCTION — The “now hiring” banners flapping on the sides of a restaurant, a tire store and a home-improvement center near Mesa Mall give the impression that the Western Slope’s largest city might be flush with jobs. But, in truth, it has been topping unemployment rates for metropolitan areas in the state.
Grand Junction has hit a number of economic “worsts” since 2009 when an oil-and-gas-field downturn coupled with the recession tagged it with the highest percentage of job losses in the country and the highest rate of foreclosures in the state.
The unemployment rate has nearly tripled since early 2009 and stands at 11.5 percent. Before it declined from 11.9 percent last month, Grand Junction had the worst unemployment for any city in Colorado, but Pueblo just slipped ahead by 0.1 percentage points.
The slight improvement in Grand Junction’s rate is evidenced in job orders beginning to trickle in from the energy and construction industries and from seasonal hiring. But the “help wanted” signs popping up on businesses have not translated to much good news for those pounding the streets for jobs.
“I don’t have any hope anymore that it is going to turn around,” said Chester Malouf, who has been out of work for two years and has a zip-drive list of more than 250 businesses where he has applied and been turned down.
For every job posted in Grand Junction, employment officials and employers say, several hundred people apply.
At the Mesa County WorkForce Center, job seekers in the waiting room flip through a free classified paper and pass 30 pages of items and services for sale before they hit a half page of “help wanted” ads.
“You just gotta keep looking,” said Jackie Kerchner, another two-year veteran of joblessness, as she scrolled though business listings on a computer at the job center.
Mesa State College held its annual Career Fair last week, but the number of employers with booths was down to 42 — less than half what it was several years ago.
The more than 200 job seekers who filed in the door in the first hour found loads of giveaway pens, lip balms and drink cozies, but only a smattering of job openings.
“I wouldn’t want to put the word out there that we have tons and tons of jobs,” said Sheree Walcher with Williams Exploration and Production, one of the larger companies operating in the energy fields around Grand Junction. She showed a list of about 15 open positions. Most of them are specialized and require a college degree, and not all are in Mesa County.
Gilbert Lujan, supervisor of the Mesa County WorkForce Center, said the high unemployment and low numbers of jobs are making for busy and frustrating days at the center, where 8,800 job seekers are vying for jobs that count in the handfuls: The latest count shows 17 job orders for construction and extraction jobs, 10 in the transportation field, 14 in administration and office support and 24 in health care.
The latter category has been the only one to remain stable through the downturn.
Having previous experience in the oil and gas fields compounds the frustration for those laid off of $70,000- to $90,000-a-year jobs and now running into the average annual wage in Mesa County — $36,400. That is nearly $9,000 a year less than the statewide average.
“There are so many people out there looking. People need jobs. But they are so used to making so much more in the oil field,” said Alan Barentsen, tire manager at the Firestone store that has a large banner advertising positions.
New construction in Mesa County has dropped to the point that construction projects stand out rather than being de rigueur as they were five years ago. Mesa State College has two large construction projects underway. The city of Grand Junction is doing a major downtown facelift. And there are a scattering of new homes being built. But most subdivisions on the books are on hold.
The 23 building permits issued in Mesa County so far this year represent a 20 percent drop from last year, which was also a down year for building.
“I have seen a lot of crews out trying to find work,” said Cesar Picazo, who recently was installing drywall in a new home on the Redlands. That home across from a golf course was originally going to go on the market for nearly half a million dollars but now will be marketed for less than $375,000, said Scott Homes owner Randy Scott.
“I’m just trying to keep my subcontractors busy and to get through the next one to two years until things get back to steady,” Scott said.
The joblessness around Grand Junction has hit home in another way. Food banks and government food assistance programs are handing out food aid at record levels.
Karen Martsolf with the Mesa County Department of Human Services said the county had 15,597 individuals receiving food assistance in February. That is up more than 1,000 in just the past few months.
“That’s a significant increase,” Martsolf said. “We are continuing to see a high level of need in this community.”
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com
