Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
Ten consecutive years of positive economic growth, the longest economic expansion in 70 years, came to an abrupt halt in Colorado and the rest of the country due to the pandemic. At the time, Colorado enjoyed one of the strongest economies in the country. With the distribution of three efficacious vaccines, the end of the pandemic is finally within sight. Economically, the damage has been done. Will economic recovery follow?
For the past five decades, the annual Colorado Business Economic Outlook published by the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado has recorded numerous booms and busts, emerging industries, and near-constant population increases. Colorado’s economy, dominated by the oil and gas industry in the 1970s, has diversified into aerospace, biosciences, telecommunications and software. Similarly, Colorado’s workforce has also changed. The percent of the population with a college degree has increased from about 15 percent 40 years ago, to more than 40 percent today.
In 2020, two of the hardest-hit Colorado industries, Leisure and Hospitality, and Trade, Transportation and Utilities, are projected to add the most jobs and grow at the fastest pace according to the annual forecast. What other business and economic trends are likely going forward?
Dr. Richard L. Wobbekind’s presentation addresses the current position of the national and state economies in the context of the COVID-19 economic shutdown last spring. Furthermore, he considers how far we are away from a full recovery, what the post-COVID-19 economy looks like and how Colorado will fare in the “new normal.”
Ten consecutive years of positive economic growth, the longest economic expansion in 70 years, came to an abrupt halt in Colorado and the rest of the country due to the pandemic. At the time, Colorado enjoyed one of the strongest economies in the country. With the distribution of three efficacious vaccines, the end of the pandemic is finally within sight. Economically, the damage has been done. Will economic recovery follow?
For the past five decades, the annual Colorado Business Economic Outlook published by the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado has recorded numerous booms and busts, emerging industries, and near-constant population increases. Colorado’s economy, dominated by the oil and gas industry in the 1970s, has diversified into aerospace, biosciences, telecommunications and software. Similarly, Colorado’s workforce has also changed. The percent of the population with a college degree has increased from about 15 percent 40 years ago, to more than 40 percent today.
In 2020, two of the hardest-hit Colorado industries, Leisure and Hospitality, and Trade, Transportation and Utilities, are projected to add the most jobs and grow at the fastest pace according to the annual forecast. What other business and economic trends are likely going forward?
Dr. Richard L. Wobbekind’s presentation addresses the current position of the national and state economies in the context of the COVID-19 economic shutdown last spring. Furthermore, he considers how far we are away from a full recovery, what the post-COVID-19 economy looks like and how Colorado will fare in the “new normal.”
