Colorado middle of the pack for job growth in second quarter

DENVER — Colorado’s economic indicators were mixed in the second quarter of 2024, as the labor market expanded — albeit more slowly than in recent periods — and inflation tempered, while new business filings shrunk and business dissolutions soared.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report, which was released on Monday for the third quarter of 2024, leaves University of Colorado economists moderately optimistic heading into the end of the fiscal year. 

“The labor force and employment growth along with the unemployment and inflation rates highlight both the strength and resiliency of the Colorado economy,” Richard Wobbekind, senior economist at CU’s Leeds School of Business, said in a prepared statement. “We appear to have weathered the storm of political uncertainty and are poised to continue to grow into 2025.” 

Colorado was ranked 19th in the nation for the pace of job growth, 47,100 jobs since the second quarter of last year, good for an expansion rate of 1.6%.

“The state has benefited from a comparatively high labor force participation rate (4th-highest in September 2024), but slow net migration to the state and demographic shifts could strain the pace of job growth,” the economic indicators report said. 

Gross domestic product in the Centennial State grew 2.7% quarter over quarter in the most-recent period, placing Colorado 31st in the nation.

For personal income growth, the state ranked 39th, with 5.1% expansion over the year.

In the Denver metropolitan statistical area, inflation grew by 1.4% year over year in September, cooler than the 2.4% nationwide inflation figure. 

A total of 41,622 new business entity filings were recorded in the second quarter, down 5.3% year over year and 3.3% quarter-over-quarter.

There 181,587 existing entity renewals in the most recent quarter, a 3.3% year-over-year increase and 2.3% bump quarter over quarter.

Dissolution filings for businesses totaled 13,221 in the third quarter of 2024, up 15% from the same period last year.

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