It’s time again for our monthly update to the Economic Tracker. 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:
- Although there were potential signs of an impending slowdown at the end of last year/beginning of this year, things seem to be back humming along. Uncertainty remains related to inflation, interest rate hikes, and the resulting economic adjustment. However, unemployment in the region is extremely low, job posting activity has picked back up, and retail sales continue to be well-above pre-Pandemic levels.
- As the region prepares for its busy tourist season, we will watch the leisure and hospitality sector, which has staffed up to almost 4% above its Feb 2020 level but is seeing mixed performance across the Northern Colorado markets in terms of hotel occupancy and RevPAR.