PRESS RELEASE

Colorado Department of Labor and Employment

633 Seventeenth Street, Suite 1200 • Denver, CO 80202 • (303) 318-8852 • Fax: (303) 318-8870

For Immediate Release

Date:               February 3, 2006

Contact:          Office of Government and Public Relations

Phone:             (303) 318-8004

Fax:                 (303) 318-8070

Web:               http://www.coworkforce.com/lmi/

Upper Arkansas Region Job Vacancy Survey
Shows Uptick In Hiring

(DENVER) – Findings from the latest Department of Labor and Employment Job Vacancy Survey for the Upper Arkansas region reveal that business hiring is on the rise.  The survey provides a point-in-time “snapshot” of the Upper Arkansas job market and reveals that most vacancies are found in Leisure and Hospitality, Education and Health Services and Trade, Transportation and Utilities, and other services. 

An estimated 218 vacancies were open for immediate hire in the region (which includes Park, Chaffee, Fremont and Custer counties) from January 3 through January 10, 2006.  That is up from 133 vacancies reported a year ago.  The regional unemployment rate dropped from 6.0 percent to 5.1 percent in the same time period.

“The increase in vacancies in Upper Arkansas and other regions experienced in the second half of 2005 further confirms the on-going economic recovery in the Colorado labor market”, says Rick Grice, The Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. 

Of the six supper sectors surveyed, Leisure and Hospitality offers the highest number if job opportunities with 50 estimated vacancies, closely followed by education and health services with 49.   Trade, Transportation and Utilities, and Other Services has 37 estimated vacancies.

Small to mid-size employers account for 68 percent of the estimated vacancies while large employers and Government each account for 16 percent. 

This latest Job Vacancy Survey for the Upper Arkansas Region is now available online at http://www.coworkforce.com/lmi/WRA/home.htm.  The Executive Summary of the survey is provided on the next page.

About the Winter 2006 Upper Arkansas Job Vacancy Survey

The winter 2006 Upper Arkansas Job Vacancy Survey was conducted from January 3-10, 2006. The goal of the survey is to provide current information on the demand for workers.  This information can serve as input into the decision making process for employers, job seekers, economic developers, educators, and workforce centers in the Region.

Over the survey period, all large and government employers as well as a random sample of private employers with at least five employees in the Upper Arkansas Region were contacted. Employers were asked if they were actively hiring at the time of the survey and the number of positions they were seeking to fill.

The Upper Arkansas survey is done twice a year to provide frequent and timely analysis of the demand for labor.  Previous surveys collected occupational and wage information.  Beginning with this survey, the Job Vacancy Survey will not be reporting to that level of detail but will still give the estimate of total job vacancies in the region to the same degree of accuracy as before, only quicker.

A total of 542 employers, representing 49% of the region’s employment, responded to the survey. Of these, 24 are large employers, 64 are Government employers and 454 are small to mid-size employers. The survey has a response rate of 87 percent.  The margin of sampling error for the overall vacancy estimate is plus or minus 0.1.

Major Findings of Survey:

§ An estimated 218 jobs were available for hire during this survey period, up from 133 vacancies a year ago.

§ Leisure and hospitality has the highest number of estimated vacancies (50), closely followed by education and health services.

§ All groups of super sectors with the exception of Government, reports more vacancies in this survey than a year ago.

§ Small to mid-size companies provide the most vacancies with 150.  However, since there are more small to mid-size firms there are actually fewer vacancies per employer compared to large employers.  There is more than 1 vacancy per large private employer compared to an average of less than one vacancy per employer for both government and small to mid-size firms.

§ Thirteen percent of surveyed employers report at least one job vacancy.

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