Colorado business leaders’ expectations rise for sales, profits, hiring

Colorado business leaders’ confidence rose slightly entering the second quarter of the year thanks to increased expectations for sales, hiring and profits.

That’s according to the latest Leeds Business Confidence Index released Wednesday morning by the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business.

The latest LBCI reading was 61.7, with expectations measuring positive — at 50 or higher — for all metrics in the index, including national economy, state economy, industry sales, industry profits, capital expenditures and hiring plans. The second-quarter reading was up from 60.8 heading into the first quarter.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Business Cares: April 2024

In Colorado, 1 in 3 women, 1 in 3 men and 1 in 2 transgender individuals will experience an attempted or completed sexual assault in their lifetime. During April, we recognize Sexual Assault Awareness Month with the hopes of increasing conversations about this very important issue.

The new reading marks the 14th quarter in a row of positive expectations.

Sales expectations was the highest metric, rising from 61.8 to 64.3. But the outlook on hiring expectations increased the most, climbing from 58.2 to 62.1. The metric for profit expectations, meanwhile, rose from 59 to 60.7.

Not everything was perfectly rosy, though. Despite remaining on the positive side of the scale, the metric for capital expenditures slid a notch from 59.4 to 59.3.

“People are not only evaluating the economy and saying, ‘things look good,’ but they’re very confident quarter after quarter that their beliefs are very solid,” economist Richard Wobbekind, executive director of the Leeds School’s Business Research Division, said in a release from the school. “They’re on firm ground. This really bodes well for not only just the next quarter or two, but for the longer term.”

An audio clip of Wobbekind discussing the latest LBCI is available on the CU website.