In contrast to the messages that the Obama/Biden team are desperately trying to shove into the media, the economy has taken a turn for the worse, as reported by the Denver Business Journal. Brookings Institution (West) released a report yesterday that showed that Colorado’s economy has almost come to a screeching halt.
First, the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield region fell 13 places in the second quarter from 27th to 40th in a review of the recovery of the country’s 100 largest metro areas. Even worse, Colorado Springs’ ranking fell to 75th from 55th. Denver is just one place ahead of Pittsburgh, and Colorado Springs is just a few steps ahead of Scranton/Wilkes Barre, PA. Perhaps you’ve seen the economic deterioration that is “The Office” on NBC?
The report cited the slowdown in job growth as the determining factor for Denver’s plummet. The pace of growth was just 0.5 percent, down from 1.3% during the first quarter. Incredibly, Denver’s unemployment ranking was 85th (out of 100 cities evaluated) in the country. Unfortunately, the U.S. economy must create 200,000 per month just to keep a steady unemployment rate.
Reviewing the sectors that are still ailing in the Denver metro area, the two tied for last place with -1.3% growth are mining (including oil and gas) and construction. These are two of our area’s specialties. That does not bode well. News out of Colorado Springs isn’t great either – Declining home prices in Colorado Springs led to its drop in the rankings. Overall, home prices decreased 2.7 percent in Q2.
We can say two things about these results – 1) it would appear as though Colorado is still feeling the housing bubble burst hangover and 2) the over-regulation of the oil and gas industry by this administration is negatively impacting the area’s ability to create jobs.