Grand Junction Listed As Only City In State Still In Recession
09/04/10 - 05:39 PM
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New government numbers released Friday show the economy is still struggling to recover. The unemployment rate rose in August from 9.5 percent to 9.6 percent.

With all the data coming out, it’s hard to tell if the nation is recovering or not.  NewsChannel 5 decided to find out what’s going on locally. The website economy.com actually breaks down information by state and by city.

According to Moody’s economic data, 40 out of 50 states are finally recovering from the economic downfall.  But take a closer look inside Colorado on economy.com, and the local economy’s status is not as promising.  Grand Junction is the only city listed that is still in a recession.

“What it is showing is Mesa County has been losing jobs instead of gaining jobs.  Going by the state labor market information that we usually look, it’s true.  Since 2008, we’ve lost literally thousands of jobs,” Gilbert Lujan with the Mesa County Workforce Center said.

Local experts say Grand Junction’s economy is different than the other cities in the state.

“Recovery is an interesting word.  What we’re looking for is sustainable economic growth and that is our goal always.  One of the major reasons for Grand Junction’s economic downfall is the oil industry was doing really well in the area.  Our economy was doing so well.  At that rate, it wasn’t sustainable.  There was going to have to be a downturn to take care of some of that,” Dr. Morgan Bridge said.  Dr. Bridge is the head of the business department at Mesa State College.

“The energy industry was affected by the economy, and in turn, it affected Mesa County,” Lujan said.

Government data shows Mesa County has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state.

“Although it’s not impossible to get a job, it’s very competitive.  So at the Workforce Center, we continue to range 150 to 170 job orders.  The trick there is that they come into our system and within a couple of days they are filled,” Lujan said.

Business experts say in order to change Grand Junction’s status, the focus must be on the city’s strengths.

“Our location, our education, and our city leaders are our strengths.  It’s going to be a slow progression towards getting back to normal, and that normal may be different [then a couple years ago], but a new normal,” Dr. Bridge said.
  Workforce officials say the local economy will probably not feel any recovering effects for about a year.

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