“Overall, the Colorado economy continues to expand, despite the energy downturn,” said Brian Lewandowski, associate director of the business research division at the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business, and the report’s author.
New business filings increased 7.6 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, but are down 5.4 percent from the first quarter, although a seasonal drop between the first and second quarters isn’t unusual. The number of entities in good standing in the state is up 5.1 percent over the past year, also a positive indicator of business conditions.
Those two measures offer a glimpse into future hiring, in that new and thriving businesses are more likely to add employees. But Lewandowski also notes that bankruptcies and foreclosure filings are on the uptick in Colorado, which could point to a softer economy. While those deserve watching, he said it is too early to describe the deterioration in those measures as a trend.
