Published: April 17, 2014

Continued employment expansion in Colorado in the first half of 2014 is signaled in a quarterly report released today by Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler and prepared by the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business.

“Coloradans continue to persevere and show their can-do spirit by pursuing the American dream,” said Gessler. “As these business leaders create jobs, hopefully our employment continues to tick upwards.”

The Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators Report is published by the Business Research Division at the Leeds School using data from the Secretary of State’s central business registry.

During the first quarter, a total of 26,522 new businesses filed with the Secretary of State’s office -- a decrease of only 0.1 percent compared with the same time last year.

“The economic metrics are overwhelmingly positive this quarter,” said economist Richard Wobbekind, executive director of the Leeds School’s Business Research Division. “However, given the slight slip in new business filings in quarter one, we will be paying close attention tothe next quarter’s data to see if a downward trend is emerging.”

The quarterly report is based on an analysis that found a strong correlation between new entity filings and total nonfarm employment.

Colorado recorded 89,721 new entities during the past 12 months ending in March -- a 3 percent increase from the previous 12 months.

At 118,167 for the first quarter, existing entity renewals also were up 7.3 percent compared with the same period in 2013. The first quarter finished with 533,927 total entities in good standing in the business registry, an increase of 5.4 percent from the previous year.

Visit the Secretary of State’s to view current and past reports or to sign up to receive the report by email. For more information about Ƶ-Boulder’s Business Research Division visit .

“The economic metrics are overwhelmingly positive this quarter,” said economist Richard Wobbekind, executive director of the Leeds School’s Business Research Division. “However, given the slight slip in new business filings in quarter one, we will be paying close attention to the next quarter’s data to see if a downward trend is emerging.”