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Colorado More Optimistic Than Nation About Economy

University of Colorado

For the 29th consecutive quarter Colorado businesses remain more optimistic about the economy than the rest of the nation, according to a quarterly economic confidence report released by the Leeds Business School at the University of Colorado.

While optimism remains high for Colorado’s economy, the numbers did drop from 62.2 in the second quarter to 53.6 for the start of the third, but the numbers are still higher than the critical neutral mark of 50 which indicates growth, according to the Leeds Business Confidence Index which is released every quarter.

Sixty six percent of the business people surveyed said their organization’s recovery is stronger today than a year ago, according to the report.  Politics were identified by the survey as the most worrisome factor and one that could disrupt their organization’s recovery. Survey takers also thought that higher interest rates could affect their organization.

“We think this is reflecting both the concern about the European debt crisis, but also reflecting political uncertainty about the coming election and how debt and deficit are going to be addressed,” said Richard Wobbekind, the Associate Dean at the Leeds School of Business.

Even with the decline in confidence, the state still added jobs over the past year. The professional and business services sector added 8,900 jobs. Education and health services added 7,800 jobs and the construction industry added 7,000. The information sector lost 3,000 jobs and the government sector dropped by 400.

The study also shows that nationwide hiring of new employees dropped, but is still slowly expanding.