Colorado Economy Outperforms Nation, Worries Experts

In recent reports, the Colorado state economy is outperforming that of the nation. Before anyone gets too excited, this stellar comeback still worries experts. In the wake of the pandemic’s initial spread nationwide, the economic toll that it has taken on both national and global economic levels is unprecedented.

“When it comes to jobs, comeback from COVID is the 10th best in the country, and we are one of only 15 states that are above pre-pandemic levels,” says Colorado’s Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the Business Research Division, in relation to the second-quarter Business and Economic Indicators Report. “That said, several important sectors are trailing their peak employment levels, which shows how uneven both the recession and the recovery have been.”

The report highlights some key indicators of economic progress, including an 11% decline in gasoline prices since June, a jobless rate of 3.4%, and the state labor-force participation rate as the second highest in the country.

While this progress seems to be a net positive for the state, experts at the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business beg to differ, with the fifth-lowest optimism rating in more than 20 years.

Due to record-breaking inflation rates, supply-chain issues, an unforgiving labor market, and regular interest rate increases, Rich Wobbekind, senior economist and Leeds Business Research Division faculty director, and his colleagues believe that a recession could knock the state’s booming economy off of its feet almost as soon as it got back up.

However, observing the current state of the economy, cautious optimism is the term most accurate to those observing the fluctuations of our economy.

According to the Gazette, employment growth within the Colorado economy remains steady. The unemployment level in June was 3.4%—12 consecutive months of flat or dropping unemployment levels. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.6% in June, the fourth straight month at that rate. Colorado’s labor-force participation rate ranked second-highest in June, totaling 69.5%, which is also above the pre-recession level.

With tensions high nationwide, economists advise to remain wary of Colorado’s prosperous economic state in a post-pandemic world. With current findings, however, they have yet to lose hope.