Colorado job vacancies jump in the first quarter of 2025 amid economic uncertainty, but experts warn of possible slowdown
Ben Roof/Special to the Daily
Colorado’s job postings surged by nearly double the national rate during the first quarter of 2025, pointing to a strong start to the year — but experts can’t say the same for their predictions going into quarter two.
Colorado’s labor market saw a 12.8% growth in job postings from January through April, ranking third highest nationwide and notably outpacing the national growth rate of 7.7%, according to the Colorado Chamber of Commerce Foundation and Aspen Technology Labs’ quarterly jobs report.
There were approximately 113,000 job vacancies around Colorado during the first week of January. As of March 31, the report data shows just over 127,000 vacancies. This means that an average of 14,000 new vacancies were added each week during the first quarter of 2025.
Colorado ranks 15th in the country for total job vacancies per capita. This marks a significant change of pace from the decline in job vacancies during the last quarter of 2024, when job openings in Colorado decreased by 3%.
The report uses Aspen Technology Labs’ database of more than 9 million job vacancies worldwide from over 200,000 companies to collect real-time data. Because of ongoing uncertainty in global markets, however, Colorado Chamber Foundation President and CEO Loren Furman said it’s “too early to say what’s driving this growth in job openings.”
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Rising job vacancies can signal positive or negative market conditions depending on several workforce characteristics. While it can be an indicator that companies are expanding and opening new positions, it can also point to employers struggling to find applicants with the correct skills. It could also suggest that some workers may be shifting industries.
Though most regions across Colorado reported higher job vacancies during the first quarter, the greatest growth came from the town of Rifle at 33% more job postings, or 701 new postings. Steamboat Springs and Pueblo followed with an increase in vacancies of 19% and 16% respectively, the report states.
The industries experiencing the largest growth by percentage in quarter one were agriculture and education, with new job posting rates of 167% and 51% respectively — though the rise in agriculture vacancies translates to a relatively smaller 97 new positions due to the sector’s employer base. Conversely, education topped the list for greatest increase in vacancies with 2,350 new jobs reported in the state, followed closely by nursing at 2,246.
Colorado’s agriculture sector experienced the highest percentage increase in job postings during quarter one, soaring by 167%. The rise translates to a relatively modest number of new positions due to the sector’s smaller employment base. Conversely, the education sector, which already had a substantial number of job postings, saw a 51% increase, adding approximately 2,350 new vacancies.
In tandem with rising vacancies, the state’s median annual salary for full-time job postings also saw a 4% boost since the previous quarter, reaching $62,410. Part-time roles saw a much smaller improvement, inching up 0.4% to reach a median hourly rate of $19. Colorado ranks 12th in the country in terms of highest median wage for full-time employees.
A cloudy forecast for quarter two
The state’s growth in job vacancies “even as overall employment levels normalized and unemployment edged slightly higher” points to a strong finish to the three-month period, Aspen Technology Labs President Michael Woodrow said in a release from the Colorado Chamber of Commerce.
Job vacancies and unemployment rates typically move in opposite directions — a trend that has deviated from historical norms in recent years.
“These market dynamics point to an economy that was and is adapting rather than retreating,” Woodrow said in the release.
Looking into the second quarter, however, Woodrow said Aspen Technology Labs have started seeing some “early signs of weakness,” which the organization will be watching closely in the coming weeks.
In March alone, job openings in the U.S. fell to their lowest point since September. The 7.2 million monthly vacancies posted fell roughly 300,000 lower than what economists had predicted, which some have credited to President Donald Trump’s trade wars clouding the economic outlook, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
