Colorado Springs has best employment numbers since 2015

The Colorado Springs-area economy added more jobs last year -- 7,400 -- than any year since 2000 and grew faster than the state, according to revised payroll numbers released Monday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The 3.2 percent job growth rate is more than twice as fast as the bureau initially reported, based on monthly surveys, and is the highest payroll growth rate since employment grew 3.6 percent in 2000. The area added jobs at a 2.2 percent rate in 2014, down from a 2.3 percent growth rate in 2013. Statewide job growth was revised upward to 3.1 percent from 2.3 percent, but is down from a 3.5 percent growth rate in 2014.

"I get the sense in the community that the economy is getting so much better than it had been in the past few years. It still isn't booming, but the best news is that job growth is at least twice the rate of our population growth," said Tom Binnings, senior partner with Summit Economics LLC, a local economic research and consulting firm. "We might not match the 2015 growth rate this year, but I expect another good year for job growth in 2016."

Get a Job Monday: Ready to cash in on your money knowledge?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that the area's unemployment rate fell to 3.4 percent in January, the lowest since April 2001 and down from 4.1 percent in December. The area's jobless rate was 5.1 percent in January 2015.

"We have every reason to believe this will continue this year," Alexandra Hall, chief economist for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, said during a conference call Monday with reporters.

Nearly three-fourths of the 7,400 jobs added last year were in four industry sectors -- the health care and leisure-hospitality sectors each added 1,700 jobs, while the business-professional services and retailing-transportation-utilities sectors each added 1,200 jobs. Construction was the fastest-growing sector in 2015 on a percentage basis, expanding by 6.8 percent. The only sectors with declining employment in 2015 included information, which shed 300 jobs, and the manufacturing and (private) educational services sectors, which each declined by 100 jobs.

Tatiana Bailey, director of the Southern Colorado Economic Forum, said the local shift from manufacturing to services reflects a similar nationwide shift to a more "skills-based" work force.

Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, which operates Penrose Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center and many other health care facilities, added 300 jobs last year to a total staff of 3,400 and expects to continue growing, said James Humphrey, the health care giant's vice president of human resources. UCHealth Memorial Hospital said it has 124 openings, about half for full-time positions.

Area payrolls continue to grow in January, although at a slightly slower rate, adding 7,300 jobs compared with a year earlier for a 2.8 percent growth rate with the strongest growth coming in the retail and health care industries.

Unemployment rates for January fell sharply across the state with every metropolitan area declining by at least 0.5 percentage points from December. Boulder's jobless rate was the lowest at 2.4 percent, while Grand Junction was the highest at 4.9 percent. The state's rate fell to 3.2 percent in January from 3.5 percent in December. The U.S. unemployment for January was 4.9 percent.

The revised statistics replace estimates generated from monthly surveys of a small group of employers with data from unemployment insurance reports most employers are required to file quarterly. The employer reports for the fourth quarter won't be available until June 1, and were not included in Monday's revision. As a result, the 2015 job growth numbers could be revised again next year when the data from the fourth quarter is used in the 2017 revision process.

Contact Wayne Heilman: 636-0234

Twitter @wayneheilman

Facebook Wayne Heilman

Visit The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) at www.gazette.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.