Northwest's negative absorption, while still high, at least was less than the previous quarter.

The report shows that the Downtown direct vacancy rate rose from 11.76% in the fourth quarter to 14.8% in the first quarter, while total available space--which includes subleased space--rose to 21.29% percent from 17%.

The small Northwest corridor saw its direct vacant space rise from 27.5% to 33.19%, while the total space available rose to 48.58% from 43% in the fourth quarter.

Southeast's direct space vacancy rate rose to 14.89% from 13.5%, while total space available rose to 25.62% from 23.16%.

Downtown's absorption rose from a positive 54,647 sf to a record negative absorption of 897,041 sf.

Southeast saw its negative absorption of 173,422-sf rise to 397,280 sf in the first quarter, while Northwest rose to 333,605 sf of negative absorption form 521,364 sf in the fourth quarter.

The report notes the manufacturing sector is leading the US out of the recession, but Denver does not have a heavy concentration in manufacturing.

Instead, Denver had a high number of high-tech and telecommunication jobs, the areas hardest hit by the recession.

''Further layoffs are expected this year from prominent employers such as Avaya Communications, Agilent Technologies, Qwest Communications and TeleTech,'' the report notes.