DENVER — The group behind the 60th Annual Colorado Business Economic Outlook & Forum expects the Centennial State to see economic growth in 2025.
Researchers on Monday released their economic outlook report for 2025. The forecast was compiled by the Business Research Division at the University of Colorado and includes a collaborative effort with more than 140 businesses, education and other organizations.
"Despite a complex national and global economic landscape, Colorado's diverse economy is expected to remain resilient," the University of Colorado said in a news release.
Read the full report below:
Researchers project job growth of 1.2% in Colorado for 2025, equating to roughly 36,700 jobs. Ten of Colorado's 11 major industries are expected to add jobs.
However, one researcher told our sister station, KOAA in Colorado Springs, that Colorado's slowing population growth, coupled with about 40,000 people expected to retire next year, could be an issue.
"I think, honestly though, one of Colorado's greatest headwinds right now is our population growth," said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the Business Research Division at Leeds School of Business. "It has slowed pretty dramatically over the last several years, really starting with the pandemic. Colorado's population growth slowed down, and without that growth, we think Colorado will struggle to post significant job growth because we don't have the people to take those jobs. So the state demography office estimates there's about 40,000 people retiring per year in Colorado. So for us to just stay flat with no job growth, presumably you need to have about 40,000 people to backfill those retirements."
The outlook also predicts gross domestic product (GDP) growth, despite many unknowns.
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