Laura Lekus, a Denver-area project management and business analysis consultant, keeps a close eye on the local technology job market and has plenty of insights to share. "It's been a very, very tough time here, especially for those in tech-related businesses, but it's slowly coming back, with strong emphasis on 'slowly,'" she says. "How you do here will depend very much on whether you have the hot skills employers are seeking right now, such as financial services, Oracle, SAP, data security/warehousing, and a few others; your age; your overall amount of experience, and your ability to hold out for the right offer."

Are there any pockets of activity? "What we're seeing more of is financial services IT postings. Over the past year or so, I've seen a big uptick in financial services postings and slightly fewer health care-related postings," Lekus says. "Most firms are still asking for financial experience of at least a few years, and some are still asking for very specific experience, such as mutual funds project management. And there appears to be start-up activity in the financial field. Rates haven't risen much, but the number of postings has risen significantly."

In addition to financial services, construction, manufacturing and commercial real estate are looking strong. Says John Deets, branch manager for IT recruiter Sapphire Technologies' Denver office: "We are finding that the labor pool is tight. When an offer comes in for a candidate, he or she is usually weighing that option against two or three other opportunities." In particular, Deets sees heavy demand in Java and .NET development.

Throughout the first half of the year, the number of Denver IT job listed on Dice grew steadily before suffering a slight decline at the end of summer. Today, listings are down 3 percent from their June peak, with close to 1,700 postings at the site.

IT staffing consultancy Robert Half Technology, in its fourth-quarter IT Hiring Index, finds that 15 percent of Denver CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter, while only 2 percent plan to cut back, about average for the entire nation.

According to the Manpower's Employment Outlook Survey, which covers all industries, hiring in the fourth quarter will be "mild." From October to December, 23 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, says Manpower spokesperson Sunny Ackerman.

Meanwhile, AeA's annual Cyberstates report found that Colorado as a whole was holding steady, though not leaping ahead in terms of technology industry development. It's no longer the state with the highest concentration of the workforce in tech (that honor now goes to Virginia). However, 8.6 percent of the workforce - 158,100 people - are involved in technology now. And they're well-paid, earning on average $80,200, or 0.93 percent more than the average private sector worker. In 2005, the most recent year for which full data is available, there were impressive gains in sectors such as R&D and testing labs (up 2,600 jobs), computer systems design and related services (up 2,200 jobs), and engineering services (up 1,500 jobs). A total of $622 million in venture capital arrived in the state last year, down a bit from 2005.

In the Denver area, overall employment is high, with June's unemployment rate of 3.9 percent far below last year's 4.6 percent. Fast-growing firms include Epic Broadband Solutions, Incentra Solutions and Webroot Software. (Incentra and Webroot are actually located up in Boulder, which boasts a famously amenable quality of life.)

Locals advise prospective job hunters to aim their searches not only at finance but also defense, energy and health care. Telecom, long a Denver staple, has been flagging in recent reports, but it's still an important component of the local economy. Denver may not be San Jose, but there seems to be plenty going on.