City’s job growth slowest in 3 years

Job growth in Colorado Springs slowed to a crawl in April, up just 0.47 percent compared with last April. It was the slowest growth since February 2004.

The good news is the area’s unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent in April, the lowest in six years, according to figures released Friday by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

That sluggish job growth — 1,200 more workers in April than last April — reflects a slowing economy, said Fred Crowley, senior economist for the Southern Colorado Economic Forum.

One key area that has seen a slowdown is housing construction. Single-family building permits in the first four months of the year in El Paso County were down 42 percent compared with the same time in 2006.

“We have lost a significant number of construction and related jobs,” Crowley said. “It’s not only the construction worker. The concrete company is not moving as much concrete, the aggregate company is not moving as much aggregate, the interior design people aren’t designing as many interiors.”

The slowdown may also be a product of some workers temporarily removing themselves from the job market, such as college students leaving their jobs to focus on finals, Crowley said.

Statewide, the jobless rate improved one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.5 percent in April, the lowest since June 2001, and 3,600 jobs were added.

Conditions are still favorable for job growth in Colorado this spring, but there are challenges, said Donald Mares, executive director of the state Department of Labor and Employment. “Rising gas prices, a tepid national economy and softness within some segments of construction continue to constrain overall employment growth,” he said.