Colorado business filings surged in the last quarter of 2022, according to a recently released report from the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
The latest Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report for the fourth quarter found that Colorado recorded nearly 49,000 new entity filings, making it the largest quarter in the report’s history. Filings increased year-over-year by 37.2% and 11.8% quarter-over-quarter, according to the report.
However, it also noted that delinquencies and dissolutions were up 17% over the previous year and 14.5% from the previous quarter with 13,293 in the fourth quarter.
Existing renewals remained positive, increasing 2.9%, or 171,210 renewals, year-over-year and 4.5% up from the previous quarter.
“Colorado has continued our upward economic trajectory,” Griswold said in a release. “With another strong year of employment gains and continued job growth, new business entity filings growing at a record pace and inflation diminishing faster than the national average, Colorado continues to lead when it comes to owning and operating a business.”
Inflation in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood region increased 6.9% in November, compared to 7.1%, which indicates a sign of improvement though it remains high.
Employment in the state increased 3.7% from December 2021 to December 2022, the eighth best in the nation. The largest annual increases came from other services, professional and business services and leisure and hospitality.
The state’s high labor force participation is driving down the unemployment rate, according to the report, and pushing up wages. Colorado’s unemployment rate fell to 3.3% in December, below the national rate of 3.5%.
Colorado has the seventh highest per capita income nationally at $75,557, with a per capita personal income growth of 7.9% ranked first for the second consecutive quarter.
