Colorado Springs got some good news on the economic front in this morning's Gazette. The 1st was kind of expected, the US Olympic Committee is expected to accept the city's proposal to keep them here for another 25 years. The USOC, the Olympic Training Center, and the associated National Governing Bodies are kind of a big deal, and it is a relief to get this negotiation out of the way.
The 2nd piece of good news was a little surprising, and was tempered by some offsetting news. Job growth was surprisingly strong, and they said we have added 7000 jobs in the last year, or 1.9%. The offsetting news was that unemployment was actually up, to 5.5%. Who knows how good these figures could have been if we were back on a decent pace of home sales and bulding?
This may be a result of "trailing spouses" (my own theory) adding jobhunters to the pool. Many of the military families who come here (although this is not a "military only" issue), and a higher percentage of the less senior ranks, are 2 income families. When a soldier is transferred to Ft Carson (or Peterson AFB, Shriever SFB, Cheyenne Mtn or the Air Force Academy), their spouse often has to seek employment in the local economy, enlarging the potential work force. Ft Carson is in a growth spurt for a while, so employment and unemployment may both continue to grow.