It’s seen everywhere! There are memes, tweets, statuses, and snarky verbal comments asking people across the nation to stop moving to Colorado, as if they’re actually going to listen. For those of us in Colorado (especially near the Denver Metro Area), we are witnesses to the ongoing traffic, the skyrocketing rent costs, and construction that seems to last longer than it should be. Is it wrong for us to worry about the economy of Colorado as our population continues to rapidly increase? Of course not! For those of us who cannot find the time to research how our beautiful Colorado economy is going to be affected, you are in the right place for a quick update.
According to The Denver Post, Colorado’s population has increased by 101,000 in 2015. As the middle of 2016 approaches, we can only imagine the number of Colorado transplants that are here. Yes, we are gaining more diversity and are inviting many more awesome people into our city; however, is Colorado ready for this change? Time can only tell. Thank you to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (http://www.metrodenver.org/research-reports/economic-forecasts/2015-economic-update/), this is what happened in 2015:
- An estimated number of 68,000 jobs were lost in 2009 & 2010; Colorado recovered all jobs by 2013. In 2015, there was increase of 3.3% rate growth of wage & salary jobs
- Unemployment slowed to a rate of 0.4% & unemployment declined in Metro Denver area
- Due to decreasing unemployment rates, wages increased in the Denver Metro area
- Commercial real estate vacancy is decreasing & construction is increasing
- In Denver Metro area alone, there were 51,200 new members of Colorado (births & migrants)
- Rapid rising sales on houses
From this information, we can make the assumption that as an economy, we are doing fairly well; if you click on the link of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, you can read that the Colorado economy is doing better than the average of the national economy!
The problems that most definitely need to be addressed are the transportation system (especially our highway system), the rise of pollution, and the salary at which Coloradoans are receiving. According to the media, New Republic, Colorado’s minimum wage is only $8.23 per hour; as of 2014, the average Denver resident needed to earn a minimum of $35 an hour to afford to live in the city. Since space is limited in Denver, prices of apartments and houses only explode into a cost of living that is affecting low income families. Additionally, there is an increase of homelessness.
What are Colorado’s plans for 2016? The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation provided us with the 2016 Economic Forecast (http://www.metrodenver.org/research-reports/economic-forecasts/2016-economic-forecast/):
- Continue to perform better than National economy & expand in faster pace
- Average unemployment rate of 3.5%
- Due to limitations of supply of residential real estate market & above average population growth, Metro Denver home prices will increase & construction will continue to increase
- Advocating for more affordable options of living through construction defects reform
- Employment base will expand by about 65,800 jobs to nearly 2.6 million workers; a 2.6% increase
- Personal income growth will increase to 5.3% due to increased wages
- Rising house prices & increased investment
