Business confidence healthy — but dipping

BOULDER — Optimism remains strong among business leaders in Colorado as they enter the third quarter of 2016, according to a quarterly index released June 30. However, the report by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business also predicted that that confidence could sag a bit before the fourth quarter begins Oct. 1.

The Leeds Business Confidence Index showed an overall reading of 54.6, down from the 55.4 it recorded at the beginning of the second quarter in April. Leeds predicted an overall confidence reading of 51.9 by the time the fourth quarter begins.

Third-quarter expectations have…