Business/Technology Reporter
Quick links: Highest and lowest wages | FAMLI updates | Denver janitors may strike | Kroger/Albertson’s merger paused
Fast food cooks kept the top spot as Colorado’s lowest-paid occupation by averaging an annual wage of $33,251 last year. On the opposite end, neurologists retained their top rank as the highest, averaging $409,685, according to the latest wage report from the state’s labor department.
The annual report, based on Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, offers one of the most comprehensive looks at how much workers in Colorado earn. State labor department analysts just released their take on it, providing a plethora of charts for additional context. One insight? They looked at how hourly wages changed between 2013 and 2023, as seen in the chart below.
For food preparation and serving-related jobs, those average wages soared 78.1% in 10 years, and had the highest growth rate of all major occupations for wage growth. When adjusted for employer costs, the historic increase dropped to 18.58%, which was still one of the highest pay bumps for all occupations, said Barb Wills, lead technical analyst for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment OEWS program.
“You kind of expect high wage occupational groups to (be) increasing so this was encouraging,” she said. “It was nice to see them catching up.”
The most obvious contributor is the state’s higher minimum wage, which is pegged to inflation. In that same 10-year period, the state’s minimum wage has shot up 75.4%, while in Denver, where the majority of food workers are, the minimum wage is up 122.2%.
There’s more to it, said Ryan Gedney, a Denver economist known as “The Stat Guy.” Colorado’s tight labor market before the pandemic was a big contributor as demand for workers pushed salaries higher.
In Gedney’s calculations of wage data, Colorado’s overall median annual income rose 21.9% between 2015 and 2019, ranking the state third highest nationwide. But between 2019 and 2023, income growth of 20.8% “was outpaced by 32 other states,” he noted online.
“I think Colorado’s fall in ranking between 2019 and 2023 could be a reflection of other states increasing their minimum wages and having tighter labor markets than Colorado post-pandemic,” Gedney said in an email. “While Colorado’s minimum wage continued to increase through 2023 (and onward due to indexing), that gain was only 23% between 2019 and 2023. Additionally, Colorado’s openings-to-unemployed ratio bounced around significantly in 2022 and 2023, with rankings as low as sixth but as high as 36th. That said, I don’t see Colorado’s relatively low rank between 2019-2023 as discouraging.”
Other highlights from the state’s OEWS report:
We’ve graphed the data to give you a visual on the top-paying and lowest-paying occupations in Colorado:
Who’s eligible for paid FAMLI leave?
There are roughly 3.2 million people in Colorado’s labor force. Of those, 3.2 million are eligible for the state’s new paid family leave program. So, pretty much everyone who works in Colorado is eligible.
So, why is demand lower than projected? Tracy Marshall, division director for the state’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance program, says that folks are still learning about it and don’t realize they’re eligible.
To make sure workers learn about it, her agency continues to publicize the perk. They hosted a webinar Tuesday, which can be viewed here. Future events are posted on the FAMLI website. And she’s hoping that word spreads, so if you’re reading this and know someone who needs time off to care for a new child or serious health issue, send them to the FAMLI portal at famli.colorado.gov.
“For the remainder of this year, we will be identifying more target approaches with a focus on rural Colorado, low wage earners and small business. Continuing our partnerships with business groups will help us reach those who are still learning about FAMLI,” Marshall said.
There are some eligibility rules. Most workers can take leave if they’ve earned at least $2,500 in wages subject to FAMLI premiums over a period of about a year. You also have to apply for benefits (start here).
About 3,500 applications have been denied for “a variety of reasons,” Marshall said. Those include failure to verify one’s identity or meet the wage requirements. Also, workers who are already covered by a private plan (those must be approved by the state) are ineligible. Workers also need to get their serious health condition certified by a licensed health provider.
➔ ICYMI: Demand for Colorado’s paid-family and medical leave 44% less than expected
Got some economic news or business bits Coloradans should know? Tell us: cosun.co/heyww
Sun economy stories you may have missed
➔ FTC chair, Colorado AG pledge to crack down on “abusive and predatory practices” of corporate landlords. The tenant roundtable focused on hidden fees, habitability and rent-setting algorithms accused of driving up the cost of housing >> Read story
➔ Meet Colorado’s hardest-working investigator trained to sniff out suspicious fires. Ash, the 16-month Labrador retriever, is trained to help firefighters pinpoint the cause of fires around the state. >> Read story
➔ Stalled by massive theft, Argo Mill gondola gets going again. “Don’t ever count Mary Jane out,” Idaho Springs mayor says. >> Read story
➔ Two Coloradans join first-ever commercial spacewalk to research ways for people to live on Mars. The four-person crew of Polaris Dawn plans to conduct nearly 40 science experiments that could help regular people with regular health problems live on the moon or Mars. >> Read story
➔ Two Colorado agencies are fighting over information. Now, one is charging the other a $30-per-hour research fee. The dispute between the state child welfare division and the child protection ombudsman centers around documents about caseworkers who falsify records. >> Read story
➔ Boulder’s Outdoor Industry Association ends 30-year partnership with Outdoor Retailer trade show. It’s unclear how once-crucial trade shows will fit in the maturing outdoor industry as businesses move away from national buying and selling gatherings. >> Read story
Other working bits
➔ Denver janitors vote to strike. Their contract ends Sunday and if a new one isn’t reached, 2,400 Denver-area janitors may walk out the door as union members authorized a strike this week, said union reps at Service Employees International Union Local 105. That would impact the cleaning at more than 1,500 buildings in Denver, Boulder, Golden, Cherry Creek and the Denver Tech Center. The majority of janitors work for CCS Commercial Cleaning Services and ABM Industries, which did not respond to requests for comment.
“The major issues the janitors want to address include equitable and livable wages that match the rising costs of living in all areas of the Denver Metro. They also want to address workload issues, as many janitors have seen personnel cut in half since the pandemic, while the number of floors and job duties have sometimes doubled,” SEIU’s David Fernandez said in an email.
➔ Kroger/Albertsons merger on pause in Colorado. The pending union of two of the nation’s largest grocery chains hit another snag Thursday after a Colorado judge ordered a temporary block to the proposed $25 billion merger. The order was in response to a lawsuit opposing the deal filed by the Colorado Attorney General’s office that said the union would violate the state’s antitrust laws. The Federal Trade Commission filed a similar lawsuit. Kroger owns King Soopers and City Markets in Colorado.
“This is great news for shoppers, workers, farmers, and other suppliers, who can rest assured that this mega-merger will not go into effect during harvest season and while kids are headed back to school,” AG Phil Weiser said in a statement, adding that the trial is scheduled to start Sept. 30. >> Earlier story
➔ Colorado’s AI job growth lags other tech-centric states. A new report from the Colorado Chamber of Commerce and Aspen Technology Labs found that job openings for artificial-intelligence workers grew a mere 3.3% compared with a year ago. Nationwide, growth was 19.5%. But in California — home to leading generative-AI companies like OpenAI, Google and Meta — the growth in AI job openings was 83.7%. Did Colorado’s new AI law to put guardrails on policies have something to do with that? A Chamber spokeswoman said it was too early to link the two since the law — which had enough opposition from the tech industry after it passed that Gov. Jared Polis announced plans to revise it — won’t take effect until 2026. >> View report
➔ Up to $100,000 in grants for apprenticeship programs in construction. The state’s official Apprenticeship Colorado program has made its BuildUp Grants: Round 2 available to applicants in the construction and building industry. Grants of up to $100,000 can be used to offset costs of training apprentices, support services and outreach. The deadline is before midnight Aug. 29. A virtual informational session is scheduled for July 30 at 11 a.m. (register for webinar). >> Details, Apply
Thanks for sticking with me for this week’s report. Remember to check out The Sun’s daily coverage online. As always, share your 2 cents on how the economy is keeping you down or helping you up at cosun.co/heyww. ~ tamara
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