Colorado added 4,700 nonfarm payroll jobs from January to February, a figure that economists said indicates that job growth in Colorado is continuing.
Patricia Silverstein, an economist and president of Littleton’s Development Research Partners, said, “The figures mean our recovery is on track.”
Silverstein noted that two weeks ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its job-growth figures for Colorado in 2011 from just under 18,000 to 33,000.
“It really changed our perception of reality,” Silverstein said. “We were growing at a faster rate than the national average.”
The job-growth figures released Friday by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment “suggest that the pace of growth is continuing and even accelerating from the 2011 pace,” she said.
Friday’s figures also showed the state’s unemployment rate at 7.8 percent, unchanged from the previous month. A year ago, the state’s unemployment rate was 8.6 percent.
Silverstein said the fact that 33,000 jobs were added in Colorado in 2011 spurs consumer and business confidence. For instance, consumers may be willing to make that big-ticket purchase they’ve put off, she said.
Alexandra Hall, chief economist for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, said she is optimistic about Colorado’s economy.
“Market conditions have improved, a lot of that in the last six months,” Hall said. “We’d love to see stronger growth. But if we could sustain the growth we are at right now … I’d be happy with that.”
Hall said Colorado has recovered just over half of the 151,600 jobs lost during the recession. As of February, 79,700 of those jobs have been recovered.
“The situation is definitely improving. But there are potential challenges. Western Europe’s economy has slowed to a crawl,” Hall said. “It could affect us, maybe not. And if everyone decides to return to the labor force in a rush, we could see unemployment rise.”
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com,
