Colorado’s economic recovery last year appeared to be a lumpy one, with some parts of the state leading and others lagging the country as a whole.
Boulder, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins-Loveland grew faster than the 2.5 percent inflation-adjusted gain averaged among 366 U.S. metro areas last year, according to a report Tuesday from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Greeley and Pueblo lagged the national average, while Grand Junction remained among a handful of metro areas still contracting.
After declining 3 percent in 2009, Boulder’s gross domestic product bounced back at a 4 percent clip in 2010. Information, professional and business services, and trade drove that performance, which ranked 62nd among U.S. metro areas.
One possible explanation is that Boulder’s smaller and more nimble firms — especially software publishers — have adjusted to the new environment faster, said Susan Graf, president and chief executive of the Boulder Chamber.
“The firms aren’t capital-intensive, so it is easy to start, grow and retool,” Graf said.
Strong government spending boosted Colorado Springs’ growth rate to 3.5 percent last year, while a strong showing in durable-goods manufacturing boosted Fort Collins-Loveland’s growth rate to 2.9 percent.
In addition, northern Colorado is benefiting from higher oil and agricultural prices, said Natalie Mullis, chief economist at the Colorado Legislative Council.
But in some parts of the state, rising natural-resource production wasn’t enough to overcome continued declines in construction and financial services.
Grand Junction’s economic output declined 3.3 percent in 2010 after falling 6.3 percent in 2009, ranking it 362nd out of the 366 metro areas.
To a lesser degree, Denver-Aurora- Broomfield faced a similar problem.
“Denver’s industry mix has a high concentration of industries that were hit hard by the recession and have yet to recover, including finance and construction,” Mullis said.
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield remains the state’s economic engine, with a 2010 current GDP of $157.6 billion, 18th among all U.S. metro areas. But measured on economic growth last year, Denver’s 1.3 percent growth rate ranked 235th.
While metro Denver’s economy is becoming more like the U.S. economy in terms of its diversification, Denver remains underweighted in manufacturing, an important player in the growth the U.S. has seen, said Patricia Silverstein, an economist with Development Research Partners in Littleton.
The GDP report didn’t disclose percentage changes in manufacturing output in Denver. But nationally, durable- goods manufacturing accounted for nearly a quarter of the overall GDP gains U.S. metro areas made last year.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or
