The bar graph illustrates the annual job additions in Colorado from 2000 to the projected figures for 2024. Throughout this period, the data shows varied job growth, with significant fluctuations indicative of economic shifts. Notable dips into job losses are observed during the years following the 2008 financial crisis and again in 2020, likely due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The graph reveals a robust recovery starting in 2021, with a continued positive trajectory into 2022 and 2023. For 2024, it's projected that Colorado will add 49,600 jobs, building on the momentum from the previous year's gain of 72,300 jobs, indicating a hopeful outlook for the state's job market. This information underscores a recovering and potentially thriving economic climate in Colorado.

Business confidence was tempered but positive in Colorado ahead of Q3. All components of the Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) posted year-over-year gains ahead of Q4 2024, but all components slipped from Q3 to Q4. Across the array of reasons given to explain their outlook, interest rates, election uncertainty, and sentiment were commonly cited as the most pressing factors.
The LBCI captures Colorado business leaders' expectations for the national economy, state economy, industry sales, profits, hiring plans, and capital expenditures. The index remained above 50 in the current survey (50=neutral) for the second-consecutive month, but fell below the long-term average. The index decreased from 53.7 in Q2 2024 to 50.6 ahead of Q3 2024 and declined to 46.7 in Q4. All of the six components of the index decreased ahead of the fourth quarter. VERIFY Looking out to Q4, three of the six indicators remained in positive territory, and two components increased quarter-over-quarter. A total of 201 qualified panelists responded to the survey from June 1 through June 20, 2024.

Sales and profits expectations pulled back ahead of Q3, but still recorded the highest optimism ahead of the third quarter of 2024. The sales index decreased from 54.7 ahead of Q3 2024 to 48 ahead of Q4 2024 and settled at 53.5 looking further out to Q1 2025. The profits index decreased from 52 in Q3 2024 to 46.3 ahead of Q4 2024 and 51.1 looking out to Q1 2025. Individuals with a positive sales outlook (40.8%) outweighed those with negative perceptions (22.4%), while 36.8% remained neutral ahead of Q3. Profits expectations were similar with more individuals in the neutral camp—the positive perceptions outweighed the negative, 32.3% to 24.9% (42.8% remained neutral).

The bar chart presents sales expectations over last two quarters in 2024, categorized by degrees of anticipated change: strong decrease, moderate decrease, no change, moderate increase, and strong increase. In Q2, a minority of respondents anticipate a moderate decrease (15.7%), with 14.6% expecting a strong decrease. The sentiment remains the same in Q3, with a notable 37.3% expecting a moderate increase, and just 3% foreseeing a strong decrease. By Q4, expectations even out somewhat, with 29% seeing no change and another 32% predicting a moderate increase, while extreme views—strong increase and decrease—each attract 1.2 and 4% of respondents respectively. This chart highlights a trend of growing pessimism about sales as the year progresses, reflecting a declining economic outlook as 2024 unfolds.

This graph contrasts the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) changes for the United States and the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metropolitan area from 2001 to 2023. The gray bars represent the U.S. national CPI changes, while the blue bars depict those specific to Denver. The data highlights significant fluctuations in inflation rates over the years. Notably, Denver experienced a substantial inflation spike in 2022 at 8%, significantly higher than the U.S. average of 5.2% that year. Other years, such as 2009, show notable divergences, like Denver's CPI dip to -0.6%, contrasting with a less pronounced national decrease. Overall, this visual underscores the variability of inflation, with Denver often experiencing more pronounced changes compared to national trends.

The graph displays the contributions to year-over-year percent change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area, spanning from January 2020 to November 2023. Various categories are represented by different colors, including Housing, Transportation, Medical Care, Food and Beverages, Recreation, Apparel, Other Goods & Services, and Education and Communication. A noticeable trend in the graph is the fluctuating but generally increasing contributions of these categories to the overall CPI over the observed period, reflecting changes in the cost of living. The graph shows that Housing consistently contributes a significant portion, especially evident in the peaks seen in mid-2021 and mid-2022. Other categories like Transportation and Food also show varying levels of influence, with notable peaks at different intervals.

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