Consumers are spending less, productivity is dropping and there are still a ton of job openings. Is that why a recession may be coming? But first, let’s get to business. Colorado continues to invest in attracting startups and small businesses, if you recall last week’s dive into the state’s own venture capital agency. This week, […]
recession
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: Colorado’s economy is still growing, but a slow down has added to recession fears
A day after the head of America’s banking system said the nation isn’t in a recession, the U.S. Commerce Department said the nation’s economy shrank. Again. For the second quarter in a row. Conventional wisdom often calls this a recession — or “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s economy is expected to cool, but not enter a recession, economists tell state lawmakers
Inflation and tightening monetary policy on the federal level are expected to cool Colorado’s economy in the coming months, according to quarterly economic and tax revenue forecasts by nonpartisan staff and the governor’s office presented to the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee on Tuesday. But both forecasts also predicted that Colorado will avoid a recession despite […]
Posted inBusiness, Politics and Government
Colorado’s fiscal future looks brighter. Now lawmakers must decide how to spend the unexpected windfall.
The dark clouds shadowing Colorado’s fiscal situation are giving way to a brighter economic outlook, according to a pair of forecasts presented Friday to state lawmakers. The arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine, an increase in job creation and a higher online sales are boosting the state’s economy, but it’s not universal. The latest numbers show […]
Posted inPolitics and Government
Before coronavirus, PERA had one of its best years in decades. Here are 3 concerns going forward.
Buoyed by stellar investment returns and the ongoing implementation of a legislative rescue package, Colorado’s state pension system in 2019 had one of its best years in decades. But — pension officials acknowledged with Friday’s release of the system’s annual finance report — the topline numbers belie the depths of the challenges the Public Employees’ […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Infrastructure projects outside major metro areas will stimulate recovery
As the state slowly moves toward a reopening, economic developers across the state are beginning to look at recovery. Where you are in the state will drastically change how you view recovery. In Grand Junction, we had only just begun to climb out of a decade-long recession. Eleven percent unemployment was only a few years […]
Posted inCOVID, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers began slashing the budget and state employees are bracing for the worst
Two weeks after she tested positive for COVID-19, Brandi Axelsen is still waiting for her symptoms to subside so she can return to work. The licensed psychiatric technician works for the state of Colorado and contracted the disease on the job helping clients with developmental disabilities. Her state-paid sick days expired and she now must […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: As the coronavirus spreads, growing divisions in society only makes things worse
In retrospect, it seems a bit inevitable. On the same day we discovered that 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, our country passed Italy and China to become the world’s leader in diagnosed coronavirus infections. Two numbers describing two realities. The gulf between them delineating the widening gap in perspective for many people […]
Posted inBusiness, News
Colorado’s economy is predicted to keep growing in 2020, but slower. Here’s what this means.
The way Dale McCall sees it, farming has enough uncertainty. Unpredictable weather. Unreliable buyers. Even a year with overproduction can drag produce and meat prices down as a farmer’s costs rise. If only Congress would finalize foreign trade agreements, he’d feel a lot better about 2020. “Luckily in Colorado, we got our sugar beets out,” […]
Posted inColoradans, Growth, News, Politics and Government
Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, one of the state’s top Republicans, on what’s ahead for the GOP, his city and his future
When John Suthers termed out of statewide office in 2015, after one of the longest runs as Colorado attorney general in state history, the powerful Republican did not slide into retirement. Within six months, he was elected mayor of the second-largest city in the state and quietly began working to jumpstart Colorado Springs’ listless recovery […]