CU economist Wobbekind: Colorado to lose up to 65,000 jobs in 2009 – Denver Business Journal:

“We think the Colorado economy will likely paralle l or slightly follow the recovery of thenationaol economy, which we see leveling off in the thirx quarter and growing in the fourth quarter,” Wobbekin said in a statement. “We think the rate of job lossesx will slow throughout the rest of this and potentially turn positive by the end ofthe year.” Wobbekinfd made his remarks as part of a midyear update on his 2009 economic outlook, originally forecasf in December 2008. Colorado likelyt will lose 55,000 to 65,000 jobs in Wobbekind said in hisupdated That’s far more than the 4,300-job loss he expectes last December.
“In the first part of this we’ve more than lost the jobs created in the previouastwo years,” he said. “It’s goiny to take at least the next two years to recover thoselost jobs.” Hiring in the educational and health care services sectodr has been slightly positive in mostly because employers were still fillinvg a backlog of needed hires in areas such as Wobbekind said. The naturalk resources and mining sectoris flat, but coul potentially see some positive job growth if energy exploratiobn in the state increases, he said.
“There are some jobs being but pretty much across the boardx the sectors are taking a veryhard hit,” he Among the most affecterd sectors has been the professionak and business services which includes many high-paying jobs such as lawyers, computer systems designers and scientific research and developmentf groups. “The single most surprising area and the one that has had the largest job loss has been in professionalo andbusiness services,” Wobbekind said.
“It’s been a very importangt category for jobs during the last severalo years as the economy has surgedand it’w been one that has been hit surprisinglty hard in this downturn, at least by our assessmentg and by many others.” The leisured and hospitality sector saw very weak retai l numbers for the first four monthse of the year, especially in mountain resory towns. The rest of the year is expected to be but should improve compared with the first four monthw ofthe year, the statement said.
“Thid is not going to be a greatg year for tourism byany means, but it probablyt will get a little better going forwar than it was in the beginninfg of this year,” he said. The Leeds Businesws Confidence Index did show anuptick recently, suggestinyg improvement in the third quarter. After plunging to a recordr low in the first quarteerof 2009, the forward-looking LBCI surged upward, from 35.5 to 47.5 for the thirdf quarter of 2009. All six indes components postedsteep gains, and two of the for the state economy and sales, passed the neutraol mark of 50.
However, overall, the LBCI remains belosw 50 as leaders expressed continued concernsabout profits, hiring and capitalk expenditures.
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