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

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“We think the Colorado economyg will likely parallel or slightly follo w the recovery of thenational economy, which we see leveling off in the third quarter and growing in the fourth quarter,” Wobbekind said in a “We think the rate of job losses will slow throughoutg the rest of this year, and potentially turn positivde by the end of the year.” Wobbekindr made his remarks as part of a midyear updatre on his 2009 economic outlook, originally forecast in December 2008. Colorado likeluy will lose 55,000 to 65,000 jobs in 2009, Wobbekindd said in his updatee forecast.
That’s far more than the 4,300-job loss he expected last “In the first part of this year, we’ve more than lost the jobs creater in the previoustwo years,” he “It’s going to take at least the next two years to recover those lost jobs.” Hiring in the educationalp and health care services sector has been slightly positive in 2009, mostlyu because employers were still filling a backlog of needed hirea in areas such as Wobbekind said. The natural resources and mining sectoris flat, but could potentially see some positiv job growth if energy exploratiom in the state he said.
“There are some jobs being created, but pretty much acrosa the board the sectors are taking a very hard he said. Among the most affected sectors has been the professional and businesssservices sector, which includes many high-paying jobs such as engineers, computer systems designers and scientific research and development groups. “Thde single most surprising area and the one that has had the largesrt job loss has been in professional andbusinesse services,” Wobbekind said.
“It’s been a very important category for jobs during the last several yeara as the economy has surgedand it’z been one that has been hit surprisingly hard in this at least by our assessmenft and by many others.” The leisurre and hospitality sector saw very weak retail numbersw for the first four months of the year, especiallyy in mountain resort towns. The rest of the year is expected tobe weak, but should improve compared with the firsyt four months of the year, the statementt said. “This is not going to be a great year for tourism by any but it probably will get a little better going forward than it was in the beginninh ofthis year,” he said.
The Leedes Business Confidence Index did show anuptickj recently, suggesting improvement in the third quarter. Afterr plunging to a record low in the firsf quarterof 2009, the forward-looking LBCI surged from 35.5 to 47.5 for the thirdc quarter of 2009. All six index components postedsteep gains, and two of the for the state economy and sales, passed the neutralo mark of 50. overall, the LBCI remains below 50 as leadersx expressed continued concernsabout profits, hiring and capitapl expenditures.