A state that has enjoyed a consistent building boom since well before the Covid 19 pandemic may experience a decline of some 2,300 jobs next year in its construction industry.
Other the other hand, the state’s leisure and hospitality industry is expected to see yet more growth, leading to the creation of at least 5,000 jobs.
These are two of the findings in a new report just issued by the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business looking at economic and business prospects in the Centennial State in 2024.
Always one of the West’s most dynamic states, with a population that has increased by 15% in the last decade for a current total of around 5.8 million, Colorado overall is expected to see a 1.4% increase in jobs next year, with seven of the state’s eleven top industries adding to their payrolls.
While the Leeds School report does envision slower job growth in 2024, notes Richard Wobbekind in a statement, “we are pleased with how well the economy is performing in this financially constrained environment.”
Wobbekind is an associate dean for business at Leeds and director of the school’s Business Research Division.
The biggest sector job gainers for 2024 are expected to be seen in the professional and businesses services field, according to the report. This sector, largely made up of professional, scientific and technical businesses and mostly confined to the state’s Front Range region, is slated to see an addition of some 10,500 new jobs next year.
Next up: the government sector at the federal, state and local level. Altogether, this sector will probably hire nearly 11,000 people in 2024. The Leeds report expects particular growth in the state’s Department of Public Health as well as the Labor Department.
A third job gainer will be seen in the education and health services sector, with an increase of around 9,400 jobs, driven by the demand for more nurses and residential care professionals.
The biggest job losses are expected to be seen in the state’s usually robust construction industry with an employment decline next year of 2,300. “Rising interest rates have slowed demand in the single-family housing market,” notes the report.
Multifamily construction is also expected to be off, “as apartment demand will be partially met by new units reaching completion.”
The state’s manufacturing sector will additionally see a loss of some 1,400 jobs, along with the information sector, comprised of telecommunications and publishing entities, dropping around 1,000 jobs.
Colorado’s agricultural industry, beset by any number of challenges including access to water, higher production costs, and lower crop prices, is also not expected to see the kind of growth it has in the past.
One industry that speaks to the state’s unique culture, however, should be remain steady in 2024: craft brewing. In fact, says the report, this industry “continues to thrive and has proven its ability to innovate and adapt over the past few years.”
Colorado now has around 440 individual breweries, producing 834,000 barrels of craft brew yearly.
Using solar power and sustainable water practices, these breweries, adds the report, “have not only become community staples, but tourist attractions and will likely continue driving economic growth and job creation.”
By Garry Boulard
