Wednesday, Jun 1 2011 7:39AM
Job opportunities for young residents in southern Colorado rural counties are limited, which has led many of these residents to move to more urban areas.
Officials in Colorado are attributing a recent increase in the median age in some of its southern counties to a low number of employment opportunities, according to the Pueblo Chieftain.
State demographer Elizabeth Garner told the newspaper while many older residents in some of the state's rural counties are gainfully employed, job openings are few and far between, which has led a number of younger residents to move to more urban areas.
In Huerfano County, for instance, Garner told the news source in the last decade, the median age increased 10 years to 51. If the counties don't receive help with their economic development, she stated it could run some counties into the ground financially.
"People would love to still be able to stay [in Southern Colorado rural communities] and work there. They just need the economic opportunities to do so," Garner told the paper.
While groups such as the Colorado Rural Workforce Consortium helps numerous rural residents in the state find employment, jobs appear to be running out in many areas.