News - Local
Grand Junction tops for lost jobs last year
Posted: Feb 3, 2010 6:42 AM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
Updated: Feb 3, 2010 6:42 AM
Grand Junction has a national title it doesn't want. The town led the nation with job losses last year according to federal labor officials.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Tuesday that Grand Junction had the largest percentage drop in jobs for any metropolitan area. The number of jobs in and around Grand Junction went down 7.7 percent last year, from 67,100 at the end of 2008 to 61,900 in December of last year.
Grand Junction was hit hard by weak natural gas prices and job losses in the energy field. Its unemployment rate nearly doubled in the same period last year, from 4.7 percent to 9 percent.
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