Business confidence in Colorado may be waning, but entrepreneurs in the state continue to launch new ventures at a strong pace, according to quarterly report from the Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams and the University of Colorado Boulder.
More than 30,000 new entities filed with the state in the third quarter, which marks a 9.3-percent increase from the new filings a year earlier, the report, prepared by the Leeds Business Research Division, found.
The number of existing entities is up by 6.7 percent, and the number of businesses in good standing is higher by 8.5 percent over the year.
“We continue to see low unemployment, higher average wages and increasing numbers of new businesses forming in Colorado,” Williams said in a news release.
Colorado’s economy grew a robust 4.5 percent in the first quarter, added 72,000 jobs in August and hasn’t seen so few jobless claims since 2000. Housing starts remain strong and home prices continue to rise at some of the fastest rates in the country.
Despite that momentum, a survey of Colorado executives showed a drop in confidence for the fourth quarter and first quarter of 2019. And the biggest barometer of confidence, the stock market, is dropping hard this month.
“The decreasing optimism came as somewhat of a surprise in an economic environment that appears very healthy in Colorado,” added Richard Wobbekind, executive director of the Business Research Division.
