Colorado ended 2022 with steady job growth and is outpacing the nation in many areas, according to a report released Monday by the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
The quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report is prepared by the Leeds Business Research Division (BRD) at CU Boulder in collaboration with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. The latest report for the fourth quarter of 2022 shows that Colorado recorded 48,806 new entity registrations, posting the largest quarter in the report’s history. Registrations grew 37.2% year-over-year and 11.8% quarter-over-quarter.
However, delinquencies and dissolutions also increased year on year. There were 13,293 dissolutions in the fourth quarter, up 17% year-over-year and up 14.5% from the previous quarter.
Existing renewals remained positive, increasing 2.9% (171,210 renewals) in the fourth quarter year-on-year and 4.5% quarter-on-quarter.
“Colorado has continued our upward economic trajectory,” said Secretary Griswold. “With another strong year of employment growth and continued job growth, new business registrations growing at a record pace and inflation slowing faster than the national average, Colorado continues to lead the way when it comes to owning and operating a business.”
Inflation in the country continued to improve, but remained high. In the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood region, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 6.9% year over year in November 2022, compared to 7.1% nationally.
December 2022, employment growth in the state increased 3.7% (104,700 jobs) year over year, good for eighth best in the nation. The largest annual percentage increases came from the following sectors: other services, professional and business services, and entertainment and hospitality.
State resident employment (based on the household survey that includes the self-employed) rose by 100,000 (3.3%) year over year in December. Growth in resident employment outpaced growth in the labor force (up 74,000, or 2.3%, year-over-year), as the number of unemployed workers fell – creating conditions similar to a labor shortage.
“Businesses have been vocal about the labor shortage for years,” said Rich Wobbekind, senior economist and BRD faculty director. “What the current data tells us is that, while Colorado has the second-highest labor force participation rate in the country, employers are connecting with the majority of available workers. These current conditions are perpetuating the picture of labor shortages from the employer’s perspective.”
The state’s high labor force participation rate is lowering the unemployment rate and raising wages. Colorado’s unemployment rate fell to 3.3% in December, below the national rate of 3.5%.
Colorado’s per capita personal income of $75,557 ranked seventh nationally, and per capita personal income growth (7.9%) ranked first for the second consecutive quarter.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) in Colorado rose 3.2% year over year in the third quarter, the sixth highest in the nation. Real GDP in the country also grew by 3.2% in the third quarter.
Retail gasoline prices continue to yo-yo stateside: Prices began to normalize in late 2022 after rising earlier in the year, according to the Energy Information Administration. In January 2023, prices were down $1.22 per gallon in the state from their June peak, but mid-January prices were up $0.92 per gallon from late December.
You can find monthly information on key economic statistics and trends affecting the state in the Colorado Business and Economic Indicators Dashboard, launched by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office in cooperation with BRD.
