Published: July 25, 2014

Moderate employment expansion in Colorado for the second half of 2014 is expected based on a second-quarter report by the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business, released today by Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler.

“Coloradans continue their entrepreneurial spirit and are putting their creative ideas to the test,” said Gessler. “Their leadership and innovation should translate to moderate employment growth through the rest of the year.”

The Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators Report is prepared by the at the Leeds School using data from the secretary of state’s central business registry.

During the second quarter, a total of 24,601 new businesses filed with the secretary of state’s office -- a decrease from the previous quarter, but an increase over the same period last year.

“Weakness in new entity filings in late 2013 and early 2014 caused us to pause somewhat in our outlook,” said economist Richard Wobbekind, executive director of the Leeds School’s Business Research Division. “But strong filings in subsequent months have reaffirmed healthy employment expectations for the rest of 2014.”

The quarterly report is based on an analysis that found a strong correlation between new entity filings and total nonfarm employment.

Colorado recorded 92,569 new entities during the past 12 months ending in June -- a 4.8 percent increase from the previous 12 months.

At 98,230 for the second quarter, existing entity renewals also were up by nearly 4 percent compared with the same period in 2013. The second quarter finished with 538,571 total entities in good standing in the business registry, a 0.9 percent increase from the prior quarter and a 5 percent increase from the previous year.

Visit the secretary of state’s website at to view current and past reports or to sign up to receive reports by email.

Contact:
Brian Lewandowski, Leeds School, 303-492-3307
brian.lewandowski@colorado.edu
Rich Coolidge, Colo. Dept. of State, 303-860-6903
richard.coolidge@sos.state.co.us
Andrew Cole, Colo. Dept. of State, 303-860-6903
andrew.cole@sos.state.co.us
Elizabeth Lock, CU-Boulder media relations, 303-492-3117
elizabeth.lock@colorado.edu