Employment in La Plata County

Employment mirrors population growth as employment sectors grow to provide necessary goods and services to newcomers.

The La Plata County economy is seasonal in nature, so that some sectors of the local economy vary during the course of the year. For this reason annual averages are presented in the tables below. To view detailed Labor Market information, visit the Colorado Workforce Commission website at http://www.coworkforce.com.

La Plata	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Unemployed	807	1,062	1,203	1,168	1,163	1,041	892
Employed	24,270	25,280	25,461	27,112	28,846	29,600	30,496
Total Labor Force	25,077	26,342	26,664	28,280	30,009	30,641	31,388
Unemployment Rate	3.2%	4.0%	4.5%	4.1%	3.9%	3.4%	2.8%
State Unemployment Rate	3.7%	5.7%	5.7%	5.2%	5.0%	4.3%	3.8%
U.S. Unemployment Rate	5.3%	5.8%	6.0%	5.5%	5.1%	4.6%	4.6%
Source: Colorado Dept. of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics

A further look at the various employment sectors, and their historical trends, provides a closer look at the La Plata County economy. These are the sectors that support newcomers who are buying land, building new homes, and taking advantage of the quality of life and natural beauty found in Southwest Colorado.

La Plata County 2006 Average Annual Wage By Industry Table

La Plata County 2006 Total Employment	# of Jobs	% of Jobs	Income ($000)	% of Income	La Plata County Avg. Annual Wage
Agriculture	710	2%	$(1,322)	0%	***
Mining & Utilities	835	3%	$95,308	7%	$114,141
Construction	4,156	13%	$223,693	17%	$53,824
Manufacturing	728	2%	$23,243	2%	$31,927
Wholesale & Retail Trade	4,429	13%	$143,689	11%	$32,443
Transportation and Warehousing	762	2%	$36,460	3%	$47,848
Information	538	2%	$30,384	2%	$56,476
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate	2,284	7%	$110,234	8%	$48,327
Services	13,173	40%	$420,159	31%	$31,895
Government	5,513	17%	$272,069	20%	$49,350
Total	33,125	100%	$1,353,917	100%	***