There was mixed news in the recent BLS employment situation report for Colorado. The good news is that over-the-month employment increased by 8,400 in April, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.8%.  On the other hand, over-the-year employment for April is only 23,200, and job growth is not broad-based.  Currently, the United States employment situation is stronger than in Colorado.

The leading sectors in absolute job growth were healthcare, food and accommodations, state government, and local government. Total YOY employment in these four sectors increased by 34,900. These sectors are critical to a well-rounded economy, unfortunately, they will not drive sustained economic growth. For details, go to https://cber.co/economic-updates/.

Many economists have downgraded their forecasts for 2025. About a week ago, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve downgraded its forecast from three months ago. Real GDP for 2025 will slow from 2.4% to 1.4%, the unemployment rate will increase, and jobs will be added at a slower rate. The performance of the Colorado economy will experience similar trends.

A recession is not in the forecast for the United States. Colorado will be challenged.