Colorado State Capitol (Credit: Casey A. Cass/CU Boulder)
Colorado is continuing a years-long trend of adding new businesses, but at a slower rate, according to a CU Boulder report Secretary of State Jena Griswold released today.
The quarterly report, prepared by the Leeds Business Research Division at CU Boulder, marked nearly 32,000 new corporations, nonprofits and other entities filing initial documents with the secretary of state’s office in the second quarter of 2019. The 0.6% increase over the second quarter of last year reflects a slowing pace of initial filings.
Existing entity renewals showed a moderate increase year-over-year, with 135,848 filings.
Overall, the report indicates employment growth will continue in the third and fourth quarters of the year.
"Colorado's economy is performing well despite slower growth nationally,” said Secretary Griswold. "Employment in our state continues its upward trend, and we hope to see continued growth in the next two quarters."
The number of businesses in good standing with the state continues to increase as well, up 5.6% year-over-year.
Second quarter dissolution filings increased more than 10% compared to the previous year, though they fell from the prior quarter.
Colorado’s average wages, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, continue to outpace the nation ($58,942 compared to $57,265 nationally).
”The slower growth in new business filings is consistent with generally slower growth we are observing in other parts of the economy,” according to Brian Lewandowski, Associate Director of the Business Research Division. “Despite this, the state continues to be among the leading growth economies nationally.”
State business leaders are feeling neutral about the business outlook for the rest of the year, as measured by the latest Leeds Business Confidence Index. Panelists noted slight pessimism about the national economy ahead of the second quarter, but are still positive about other industry measures like industry profits, the state economy, industry sales, hiring and capital expenditures.
Building permits in Colorado decreased 11.3% over the last 12 months, according to Census Bureau data, hampered by a 22.9% decrease in the first five months of 2019. The latest home price data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency Purchase Only Index shows the state grew 4.8% in the first quarter of 2019, marking the 28th fastest home price growth nationally.
