Vectra’s Colorado business index up

DENVER – Colorado’s Small Business Index improved in February from the previous month, climbing to 113.2 from a revised 112.8 in January, according to the latest report from Vectra Bank Colorado.

The improvement was mostly due to a stabilization of the state’s unemployment rate, which remained unchanged in February at 8.8 percent. That compares to an unemployment rate of 7.4 percent for the same month in 2010.

When computing the Vectra Bank Small Business Index, a higher unemployment rate is considered a positive contributor as it suggests increased access to workers for small businesses.

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The Small Business Index uses a 100.0 baseline for the calendar year 1997, and the higher the Index number, the more favorable are business conditions for small business.

During the last 12 months, Colorado added an estimated 5,200 jobs, the report said. Overall for 2010, the state lost an estimated 50,000 jobs but that was far better than 2009, when an estimated 106,300 jobs were lost.

“Stronger employment gains reported for February – should they continue – will provide support for more impressive small business performance in Colorado and across the nation,´ said Jeff Thredgold, Vectra Bank Colorado’s corporate economist. “A return of much stronger U.S. job gains in coming months will bode well for Colorado’s small business sector.”

The U.S. economy added an estimated 192,000 net new jobs in February as the national unemployment rate dropped from 9 percent in January to 8.9 percent in February.