The economic gap between Colorado's Western Slope and Front Range is widening.
"It is taking longer for the western part of the state to recover," said state demographer Elizabeth Garner at the 31st annual Demography Meeting on Friday in Arvada.
Colorado regained its pre-recession peak in employment in May, but that achievement hides a geographically lumpy recovery.
Sixteen mostly Front Range counties have recaptured their previous employment peaks, while the state's other 48 counties continue to lag, said Grant Nülle, an economist at the State Demography Office.
"Western Slope communities haven't recovered the jobs lost," he said.
One key reason is that the momentum of oil and gas drilling has largely shifted from western counties to northeastern ones.
Garfield County went from a monthly rig count of 75 in 2008 to 12 this year. Weld County's monthly rig count has risen from 20 in 2008 to 44.
Construction activity also hasn't recovered. Home prices spiked more and new-home permits suffered a steeper drop in the west than along the Front Range, Nülle said.
The wealthy buyers who drive vacation-home purchases haven't returned in big enough numbers to spark a new construction wave.
Shrinking demand for coal has hurt some counties, and Garner added that tourism activity has rebounded faster along the Front Range than on the Western Slope.
A weaker economy, in turn, appears to be keeping people away. Colorado's population is growing at 1.4 percent a year, double the U.S. rate.
But many Western Slope counties are struggling with flat or falling populations. Grand County's population shrank 2.2 percent per year, and Moffat County's dropped 2.4 percent per year the past two years.
Even the resort counties of Eagle, Summit, Pitkin and Routt have struggled to hang on to their residents.
That contrasts with population growth in Denver County, up 2.4 percent; Broomfield, up 2 percent; and Douglas and Weld counties, each up 1.9 percent.
Garner, however, isn't worried that the Western Slope has entered a downward demographic slide like that plaguing eastern counties in the state.
She predicts new-home construction will return, more retirees will move in and tourism will gain traction as the national economy improves.