Growing but slowing: Colorado records one of nation’s lowest growth rates in hiring

Growing but slowing is how a new report describes Colorado’s economy. The state’s 1.2% growth in employment in March was the country’s second-lowest, just behind West Virginia, and the state’s slowest since late 2021.

Although revised numbers are expected to nudge the growth rate up, possibly to about 2%, Colorado will likely rise to only the 40th spot nationally in terms of new jobs, said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of research at the University of Colorado-Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.

However, the quarterly report on economic indicators released Thursday by the Colorado secretary of state’s office also showed a record number of new business filings. And Lewandowski said Colorado was one of only nine states to report an increase in job openings.

“Even though we have a slowing employment growth rate, we still have a very high number of job openings in the state,” Lewandowski said.

Colorado’s high rate of participation in the labor force and a record number of new business filings were cited as positive signs even while expansion of the national gross domestic product slows and worries remain about the health of the nation’s banking system after recent bank failures.

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Filings for new businesses totaled nearly 56,000 in the first three months of the year. Filings jumped 27.6% year over year and 14.3% increase from the previous month.

Read more via The Denver Post.