Gessler releases second quarter economic indicators report
Denver, Colorado, July 25, 2014 - Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler today released the Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators Report for the second quarter of 2014 (PDF). Strong increases in new business filings indicate continued employment growth in the near term.
"Coloradans continue their entrepreneurial spirit and are putting their creative ideas to the test," Secretary Gessler said. "Their leadership and innovation should translate to moderate employment growth through the rest of the year."
During the second quarter, a total of 24,601 new businesses filed with the Secretary of State's office—a decrease over the previous quarter, but an increase over the same time period last year.
"Weakness in new entity filings in late 2013 and early 2014 caused us to pause somewhat in our outlook," said Richard Wobbekind of the Leeds School of Business, "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 last 12 months ending in June—a 4.8 percent increase over the previous twelve months. At 98,230 for the second quarter, existing entity renewals were up by nearly 4.0 percent compared to the same period in 2013. The fourth quarter finished with 538,571 total entities in good standing in the business registry, a 0.9 percent increase over the prior quarter and a 5.0 percent increase over the same time in 2013.
The Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators Report is published by the Business Research Division at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder, using data from the Secretary of State’s central business registry.