Quarterly the legislative staff prepares an economic forecast, which is the basis for state budgeting. The most recent budget came out on June 20, and is linked below.

Highlights:

Colorado, as a whole, is beginning to recover, and is outperforming the nation. In the next budget there will actually be more revenue to work with, ending the cycle of constant cuts to education. The bad news is that personal income is not projected to increase, and individual debt is still too high. Banks are still not lending to small businesses.

The even worse news is that our part of Colorado is showing some of the weakest signs of recovery in the state. Decreases in the price of natural gas have slowed drilling in our 10 county region, and both residential and commercial construction are still on the skids. Employment figures show that some people are getting back to work, but unemployment is still high. My housemate, who works on pipelines, is glad to be back to work on a project near Avon.

Homework

http://www.colorado.gov/legcouncil/Economic_and_Revenue_Forecast_will%20be%20ready.pdf