Colorado Springs, Denver among top cities to find work in coming months

DENVER – Colorado’s two biggest metropolitan areas will be some of the best places to look for work in the second quarter of 2017, according to a new report from human resource consulting firm ManpowerGroup.

The organization lists Colorado Springs and Denver among cities that will see the biggest net increases in available jobs.

ManpowerGroup surveyed 11,000 employers nationwide and asked if they anticipated increases or decreases in hiring in the second quarter. By subtracting the anticipated decreases, the group calculated a “net employment outlook” for the country’s 100 biggest cities.

The net employment outlook for Colorado Springs is 28 percent, meaning 28 percent of employers there are planning to increase hiring. That’s the third highest percentage, behind Nashville, Tennessee and Provo, Utah. Colorado Springs shares third place with Fresno, California and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Denver’s net employment outlook is 25 percent, matching Jacksonville, Florida.

Here are the cities with the best outlooks, listed by net employment outlook percentage:

32%: Nashville
29%: Provo
28%: Colorado Springs, Fresno, Raleigh
27%: Charlotte, Oklahoma City
26%: Grand Rapids
25%: Denver, Jacksonville

Nationwide, ManpowerGroup found a 17-percent net employment outlook, with 73 percent of employers expecting no changes in hiring and 3 percent expecting reductions.

Industries expecting the biggest hiring increases are leisure and hospitality, wholesale and retail trade, transportation and utilities, and professional and business services.