March economic review
The March economic review focuses exclusively on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) benchmark data, the revision of 2020 and 2021 data. Colorado employment was revised upwards, and the unemployment rate was revised downwards. It is an understatement to say that some of the changes by industry and MSA were noteworthy.
In a nutshell, Colorado added 92,900 jobs in 2021. The Colorado Springs MSA was the only region with 2021 employment greater than pre-pandemic employment (2019). The state employment will increase by about 82,000 in 2022. The professional, scientific, and technical services sector will lead the job growth this year.
The 2022 Colorado forecast acknowledges the significant headwinds that could put the economy into a recession in a matter of months. Currently, the momentum of the labor market and economic activity exceeds the obstacles.
Click on the following link https://cber.co/economic-updates/ for the benchmark update.
In addition, the Colorado Legislative Council, and the Office of State Planning and Budgeting have released their recent economic forecasts. Both groups provide extensive reports on the operations of the state government and the state economy.
The BLS will release wage and salary employment data for Colorado next week. That report will address growth through the first two months of the year. That report is expected to be very optimistic.
Gary Horvath