After news earlier this week that Colorado has seen slow but steady job growth, a CU economist says that trend will continue for the rest of the year.
Colorado’s economy is projected to grow at a modest pace through the second half of the year. And, according to University of Colorado Boulder Economist Richard Wobbekind, job growth will continue to be slow - but positive.
“I think business leaders will continue to experience, and businesses in general, will continue to experience revenue growth and profit growth, but we are not going to see the level of hiring we need to seriously bring down our unemployment rate,” he said.
But that rate is still lower than the national average.
The annual Business Economic Outlook Forecast was released in December, and updated this week. Its prediction that Colorado will add about 10,000 jobs this year appears on target, even though the state has lost construction jobs and the government sector is struggling.
And while Colorado and the nation continue to recover from the recent economic downturn, there has been talk of a double dip recession if things can’t be worked out in Washington. But Wobbekind says most risk models say there’s about a 25% chance of that happening within the next year.
“Our forecast, the National Association for Business Economists forecast, which I am involved in is not calling for that. A very small percentage of people are calling for that. But if it were to happen, it would obviously slow down job growth even more nationally and in Colorado,” he said.
He adds that the ongoing debt ceiling discussions and issues of sovereign debt in Europe are not helping ease economists’ worries – but adding more of a level of uncertainty to the national and global economy.