New entity filings in Q4 2024 decreased 0.4% year-over-year and 1.9% quarter-over-quarter. The seasonal decrease from Q3 to Q4 occurred at a slower-than-average rate.

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New entity filings in Q2 2024 decreased 21.7% year-over-year and 4.7% quarter-over-quarter. Business filing renewals were also down for the quarter. Colorado’s labor market remained tight in the second quarter. Colorado’s job opening rate ranked 15th-highest nationally in May, and the ratio of job openings to the number of unemployed individuals remained above the national average (1.4 versus 1.2). Colorado continued to record growth in jobs and income.

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Colorado’s economy continues to post gains in GDP, add jobs, and grow personal income. New entity filings slowed further in the fourth quarter of 2023, decreasing 6.6% over the quarter and 16% year-over-year. A fee credit that reduced limited liability filing fees led to a surge in filings a year ago, and likely contributed to the decline in the current year.

Colorado’s economy continues to post gains in GDP, add jobs, and grow personal income. New business filings were mixed in Q3 following the end of the Secretary of State’s Office fee reduction for LLCs. Existing entity renewals remained strong and dissolution filings fell—both indicators of a stable business environment. 

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Colorado’s new entity filings surged 39.1% year-over-year, according to  Aug. 10, 2023, by the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

The Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report is prepared by the Leeds Business Research Division (BRD) at CU Boulder in conjunction with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

The latest report for the second quarter of 2023 shows that Colorado recorded 54,890 new entity filings, most of which were LLCs. Quarterly filings remain elevated but decreased by 1.6% from the record high in the first quarter.

Dissolutions improved in the second quarter. The number of dissolutions were nearly flat year-over-year and decreased over the quarter. Dissolution filings totaled 11,785 in Q2 2023 compared to 11,753 in Q2 2022—a change of 0.3%. Filings decreased 15.8% from the 14,000 recorded in Q1 2023.

Business renewals decreased over the year and over the quarter. There were 171,081 renewals in Q2 2023, a decrease of 0.6% year-over-year and 11.8% over the previous quarter. Businesses in good standing increased in the second quarter. Total entities in good standing increased 9% from the second quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of 2023, continuing a general upward trajectory.

Inflation continued to improve in the second quarter. The Consumer Price Index increased 5.1% year-over-year in May 2023 in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metropolitan area (MSA), while the national rate slowed to 3% in June. Core inflation, which includes all items except food and energy, increased 5.6% in the Denver region.

While Colorado remains above average in the jobs recovery from the pandemic recession, the state’s jobs growth cooled significantly in 2023.

The state’s job growth accelerated to 1.5% in June 2023, ranking the state 44th nationally. Evidence suggests this is a signal of a supply constraint rather than easing demand, as well as a data reporting issue that is understating Colorado’s job totals.

The largest annual percent increases came from leisure and hospitality, mining and logging, and government. However, losses were recorded in financial activities; information; trade, transportation, utilities; and construction.

The employment slowdown arises at the same time Colorado records the 14th-highest job openings rate, the 4th-highest labor force participation rate, the 14th-fastest growth in labor force and the highest number of people in the labor force in state history.

With an unemployment rate of just 2.8%, Colorado’s slowdown in job growth appears to be a symptom of a worker shortage rather than softening demand for workers. Other economic metrics remain positive but also suggest a slowdown in Colorado’s economy. The state’s GDP, personal income and taxable retail are posting positive but slower growth.

“The growth in establishments and strong underlying components of the labor market suggest the slowdown in job growth appears to be a labor supply issue rather than a signal of business distress,” said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the Business Research Division.

U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) accelerated in the second quarter. Initial reports for GDP for Q2 2023 indicated 2.4% growth, up from 2% growth from the first quarter.

You can find monthly information on key economic statistics and trends that impact the state on the , launched by the Colorado Secretary of State's office in conjunction with BRD.

Report finds jobs, GDP, income all rising in Colorado, though momentum is fading.​

The Denver skyline on a clear day. According to a new report from Leeds and Colorado's secretary of state, the economy is in a state of growing, but slowing, as key indicators like employment and GDP have started to lose momentum. 

Growing, but slowing. 

That’s the key takeaway from the Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators Report prepared by the Business Research Division at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business, in partnership with the Colorado secretary of state’s office. 

“We’re seeing slower growth in jobs, GDP, personal income and retail, as well as declines in home pricing and construction,” said Brian Lewandowski, BRD executive director. “All of that contributes to the idea that Colorado is in a growing, but slowing, economy.” 

While Colorado has been among the national leaders in job recovery coming out of the pandemic, that rate is slowing down. Employment grew 1.2 percent year over year in March, though the state’s labor force participation rate ranked fourth highest in the country in March (68.3 percent). The labor force grew 0.7 percent year over year, and Colorado’s per capita personal income ranked eighth at $75,206.

A very welcoming sign for businesses and the economy is an improvement in inflation. The Consumer Price Index increased 5.7 percent year over year in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area, only slightly ahead of the national rate of 5 percent.

Other highlights from the report, which summarizes activity from the first quarter of 2023: 

• New-entity filings soared 27.6 percent year over year, a record for the first quarter. Lewandowski attributed this to a fee credit that reduced limited liability filing fees to $1.
• Colorado’s businesses generally are healthy. Business renewals increased year over year and over the previous quarter—1.2 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively—and the list of entities considered to be in good standing increased 7.4 percent over the year.
• The home price index fell for six of Colorado’s seven metro areas. Only the Pueblo region recorded growth (0.5 percent). 

Read the full report here.

  Why Leeds     Business Research Division     Download full report

A busy quarter for company formation is another data point supporting Colorado’s economic strength emerging from the pandemic.

If you’re looking for signs of optimism in the current economic picture, Brian Lewandowski suggests looking at the rate of recent business formation in Colorado. 

Lewandowski, executive director of the Business Research Division at Leeds, said fourth-quarter new entity filings in 2022 hit a high-water mark since BRD started tracking quarterly metrics in 2007. It’s been doing so as a partner with the secretary of state’s office since 2011.

“In many of the categories that measure economic health, Colorado remains a top-10 state,” Lewandowski said. “And while business filings don’t necessarily represent future economic health or suggest a more positive outlook, the strength of this data point would seem to be yet another indicator of Colorado’s strength going forward.” 

The fourth quarter, Lewandowski added, typically represents the weakest time of year for business formation, making the last quarter’s performance especially noteworthy. Total new-entity filings increased 37.2 percent year-over-year and 11.8 percent from the previous quarter, with just under 50,000 new entities filed in fourth-quarter 2022. 

Other highlights from the just-released Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report: 

• The nation surpassed its pre-pandemic jobs peak, adding 23.2 million jobs between May 2020 and last December after shedding 22 million positions during lockdowns. Meanwhile, Colorado continues to lead on jobs: A 3.2 percent employment gain since May 2020 is 10th-best in the nation.
• Real GDP outperformed expectations for the second half of the year after putting up negative totals in the first six months. For the fourth quarter, consumer spending (2.1 percent), investment (1.4 percent) and government spending (3.7 percent) all rose, while net exports improved for the third consecutive quarter. 
• Other state indices are more mixed. One example: Gas prices in Colorado fell considerably after peaking at $5 per gallon in the summer, but rose 92 cents from late December to mid-January. Another: Year over year, the Consumer Price Index essentially tracked with nationwide trends, but a 6.7 percent jump in core inflation in Denver outpaced the 6 percent U.S. average.

The Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report measures the correlations between various filing data from businesses and broader economic metrics. Today’s report follows the most recent Leeds Business Confidence Index, which recorded continued pessimism from industry leaders in Colorado.

  Why Leeds     Faculty and Research     Business Research Division

The state's recovery puts it among the fastest growing in the U.S., but headwinds remain. ​​

The Denver skyline at dawn. High consumer prices have acted as a powerful economic drag on Colorado and the nation, overshadowing impressive job growth since the onset of the pandemic. 

While Colorado’s economy is generally in good shape, outpacing the nation as a whole, rapid inflation, rising interest rates and ongoing supply-chain shortages are providing continued headaches for the state. 

That’s the main takeaway of the secretary of state’s , created in partnership with the Business Research Division at the Leeds School of Business. 

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

Those economic headwinds have local business leaders turning pessimistic, according to the Leeds Business Confidence Index, which recorded the fifth-lowest level of optimism in 20 years. However, it's hardly all bad news. Here are a few key highlights from the report, released Aug. 11: 

• Inflation. Nationally, inflation grew at the highest rate in nearly four decades, with price increases in the mountain region (9.9 percent) outpacing the U.S. average and Denver not far behind. However, in a bit of good news, gasoline prices have fallen 11 percent after peaking at $5 per gallon in late June.
• Gross domestic product. While 2022 is expected to deliver positive national GDP growth, it contracted for the second consecutive quarter, shrinking at an annualized rate of 0.9 percent. Colorado’s real GDP was up year over year, but still declined 1.9 percent in the first quarter.
• Employment. Sharp gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and other services have pushed Colorado’s year-over-year gains to 4.1 percent. Colorado’s jobless rate is 3.4 percent, and its labor force participation rate is the second-highest in the country, which bodes well for potential employment. National employment also has been strong, despite weak GDP reports, officially surpassing the February 2020 pre-pandemic peak. Wage growth has been strong, but muted due to inflation. 
• New business filings. Business formations in Colorado are up year over year, but fell from the first quarter. Delinquencies and breakups also increased year over year, signaling increased strain on businesses.

“While Coloradans’ resilience has been tested, today’s report shows we’re moving in the right direction,” said Jena Griswold, Colorado secretary of state. “Colorado’s economy continues to shine even with uncertainty in the national economy. Our business sector has shown ongoing resilience.”

  Why Leeds     Business Research Division  

The latest Colorado Secretary of State Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report shows continued year-over-year growth in new business filings, and existing entity renewals were strong.

The latest Colorado Secretary of State Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report shows continued year-over-year growth in new business filings, and existing entity renewals were strong.