Private sector companies only added 1,100 jobs last year

The state’s private sector sat on the sidelines when it came to hiring workers as last year came to a close, according to a monthly update from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Colorado added an anemic 300 nonfarm jobs in December, with private sector employers shedding 1,700 and governments adding 2,000. November counts, which had initially shown a decline of 700 jobs, were revised to show a loss of 2,500 jobs, all driven by the lack of private-sector hiring.

For the full year, private sector employers added 1,100 jobs, while the heavy lifting of keeping the economy going was left up to government employers, primarily local governments and school districts, who added 23,000 jobs.

“As was the case for most of 2023, the lack of job growth in the private sector is troubling,” said Broomfield economist Gary Horvath. “There were notable job losses in transportation, warehousing, and utilities; manufacturing; and finance and insurance. Significant gains were seen in health care and retail trade.”

Hiring has been soft since September, much softer than other indicators like GDP growth and personal income gains would suggest it should be. Still, the unemployment rate, which is calculated using a different household survey, came in at a low 3.4%, up from 3.3% in November but below the 3.7% rate nationally.

The state’s job numbers will undergo a major benchmarking process based on the quarterly reports that employers make when they file their unemployment insurance premiums.

That benchmarking is expected to significantly boost the number of jobs added in the state, said Ryan Gedney, a senior labor economist with the CDLE, during a news call Friday morning.

The Colorado Business Economic Outlook, which came out in early December, estimated that the state added around 64,500 jobs last year, not the 24,100 estimated in the most recent report.

The state’s private sector sat on the sidelines when it came to hiring workers as last year came to a close, according to a monthly update from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Colorado added an anemic 300 nonfarm jobs in December, with private sector employers shedding 1,700 and governments adding 2,000. November counts, which had initially shown a decline of 700 jobs, were revised to show a loss of 2,500 jobs, all driven by the lack of private-sector hiring.

For the full year, private sector employers added 1,100 jobs, while the heavy lifting of keeping the economy going was left up to government employers, primarily local governments and school districts, who added 23,000 jobs.

“As was the case for most of 2023, the lack of job growth in the private sector is troubling,” said Broomfield economist Gary Horvath. “There were notable job losses in transportation, warehousing, and utilities; manufacturing; and finance and insurance. Significant gains were seen in health care and retail trade.”

Hiring has been soft since September, much softer than other indicators like GDP growth and personal income gains would suggest it should be. Still, the unemployment rate, which is calculated using a different household survey, came in at a low 3.4%, up from 3.3% in November but below the 3.7% rate nationally.

The state’s job numbers will undergo a major benchmarking process based on the quarterly reports that employers make when they file their unemployment insurance premiums.

That benchmarking is expected to significantly boost the number of jobs added in the state, said Ryan Gedney, a senior labor economist with the CDLE, during a news call Friday morning.

The Colorado Business Economic Outlook, which came out in early December, estimated that the state added around 64,500 jobs last year, not the 24,100 estimated in the most recent report.