Good Economic News

Economist Richard Wobbekind at the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business has announced at the 46th Annual Economic Outlook Forum that our state should experience slow but steady growth in the year 2011. Stating that 'we would all like a more rapid recovery, especially in terms of jobs, we are just not going to see that yet.' Overall his forecast calls for a gain of 10,100 jobs in the next year, but this compares to the 140,000 jobs the state lost in 2009 and 2010. Unfortunately for the Vail Valley, he stills sees the construction industry as shedding jobs in the next year. On the other hand he sees one of the growth sectors in leisure and hospitality. He states, 'All the job growth in these sectors is still subpar in historical context. It will not be enought to bring down the unemployment rate in any meaningful way or to create great momentum in the state economy." The biggest loser in terms of jobs will be in the construction industry, which could lose as many as 7,000 jobs in 2011.