Old Cheezhead

Denver IT Jobs a Bright Spot in Recovery

Denver IT jobs are among the occupations expected to add workers next year as Colorado continues to slowly recover from the economic downturn.

Experts are predicting that Colorado will continue to experience slow economic growth next year. Richard Wobbekind, an economist with the University of Colorado, thinks the state will see slower than usual growth, but will start to add some much-needed jobs.

Although a total of nearly 140,000 jobs were lost throughout Colorado during 2009 and 2010, Wobbekind predicts that only about 10,100 jobs will be created during 2011, according to an article by the Denver Business Journal.

"I think the overall economic picture for Colorado in 2011 is slow, steady growth much like the national economy," he said. "We would all like a more rapid recovery, especially in terms of jobs, but we're just not going to see that yet."

The professional and business services industry will benefit the most next year, adding about 7,000 jobs. There will be a strong need for engineners, computer systems designers, and scientific research and development employees.

Other industries that will benefit during 2011 include agriculture; education and health services; energy development; scientific and research activities; trade, transportation, and utilities; and leisure and hospitality.

"All the job growth in these sectors is still subpar in a historical context," Wobbekind said. "It will not be enough to bring down the unemployment rate in any meaningful way or create great momentum in the state economy, but at least it's moving in the right direction. It is just moving at a slower pace than we would like."

Unfortunately, some of the industries hit hardest by the economic recession -  such as construction, manufacturing, and government - will continue to lose jobs next year.

Los Angeles Education Jobs Cut

Thousands of Los Angeles education jobs (Click here) are on the chopping block.

Last month, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced it's plans to fire about 4,800 employees. Of those workers, about 1,000 will completely lose their jobs, while the remainder may have the option to take a new position in a different location with lower pay.

The majority of the layoffs will affect employees in clerical, plant management, and facilities division positions. In the latter office alone, 482 employees received notices that their jobs would be cut or transfered, which resulted in 100 people leaving the district and all employees receiving a pay cut.

The school district has been forced to make several rounds of layoffs because of a decrease in state funding and an unbalanced budget. As of late, many employees - led by a Teamsters local union and United Teachers Los Angeles - have been protesting the layoffs.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area's education and health services industry employed 528,100 workers during October, which is up from 517,800 workers during September and a 1.3 percent increase from last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The recent layoffs are bad news for the local economy, which despite adding jobs in recent months, maintains a high unemployment rate. The area's rate increased from 12.4 percent to 12.5 percent during October, which is above the national average at the time of 9.6 percent.

The Los Angeles area had a total non-farm employment of 3,766,900 workers during October, which is up from 3,737,000 workers during September and only a .8 percent decrease from last year, according to the BLS.