It’s time again for our monthly update to the Economic Tracker Update. Your Fort Collins Area Chamber, working with other economic development and business support organizations across the region created a tool to track the economic recovery in Northern Colorado. This valuable resource is a set of indicators that represent critical aspects of the Larimer and Weld County economies, is based on data that is accessible in a useable format and is updated frequently with little lag time. The Economic Tracker provides great insight into the impact of the pandemic and recession on Northern Colorado.
The most recent update to the Tracker includes the following insights from our Economic Analyst, Caroline Alexander:
Here are the three takeaways:
- The number of job postings per unemployed worker is back to or below the pre-Pandemic level, which could be a marker of a slowdown in hiring activity. However, the labor market remains strong with low unemployment, a growing labor force, and strong growth in average hourly earnings.
- Overall job growth is flat – Northern Colorado is right at the 2019 Average. Top sectors that gained jobs: retail trade, local government, and leisure & hospitality. Top sectors that lost jobs: mining, logging & construction; state government; and information.
- Though median home prices appeared to soften in Q4 2022, they have recovered in Q1 2023. Building material use tax, however, appears to be continuing its downward trajectory, which could be a slowing in the construction sector or price adjustments/normalization.