Denver Ranks 30th in Job Growth Nationally

The Denver metro area (excluding Boulder which is its own statistical area) ranked 30th in the nation for job growth for the year ending in February.  This is out of the top 100 largest metros according to a report in the Denver Business Journal.

Denver gained 8,600 non-farm jobs in the period for total employment of 1,175,800 and was one of 70 U.S. metro areas that saw job increases.  Denver ranked third in the Mountain West region, trailing only Phoenix and Salt Lake City.  The top three job gainers nationally were Washington D.C. with 74,600 jobs, followed by Dallas/Ft. Worth with 65,000 and Los Angeles with 56,600.  Denver’s unemployment rate stood at a seasonally adjusted 9.4%, unchanged from January.

Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment rates were lower than a year ago in 308 of 372 metro areas, higher in 52 and unchanged in 12.  The biggest job gains were in education/health services and professional/business services.