News Trends Contributors Jobless rate retreats Opinion Business Briefs Business People Almanac The Business Times
February 3-16, 2022
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INDICATORS AT A GLANCE
n Business filings t New business filings in Colorado, 38,211 in the third quarter, down 1.2% from the third quarter of 2020.
n Confidence
t Consumer Confidence Index 113.8 for January, down 1.4. s Leeds Business Confidence Index for Colorado, 58 for the first quarter, up 1.9. s National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Optimism Index 98.9 for December, up 0.5.
n Foreclosures s Foreclosure filings in Mesa County, 6 in January, up from 0 in January 2021. s Foreclosure sales in Mesa County, 1 in January, up from 0 in January 2021.
n Indexes
s Conference Board Employment Trends Index, 116.63 for December, up 0.99. s Conference Board Leading Economic Index 120.8 for December, up 0.8%. t Institute for Supply Management Purchasing Managers Index for manufacturing, 57.6% for January, down 1.2%.
n Lodging
s Lodging tax collections in Grand Junction, $219,599 for December, up 60.3% from November 2020.
n Real estate
t Real estate transactions in Mesa County, 376 in January, down 3.8% from January 2021. s Dollar volume of real estate transactions in Mesa County, $163 million in January, up 40.5% from January 2021.
n Sales
s Sales and use tax collections in Grand Junction, $5.6 million for December, up 22% from December 2020. s Sales and use tax collections in Mesa County, $4 million for December, up 24.3% from December 2020.
n Unemployment t Mesa County — 4.6% for December, down 0.1 t Colorado — 4.8% for December, down 0.3. t United States — 3.9% for December, down 0.3.
2021 ends with lowest unemployment level of the year in Mesa County Phil Castle
For December, 991 job orders were posted. That’s a nearly 49 percent increase over the same month last year. For all of Dec. Nov. The monthly unemployment rate 2021, 11,799 orders were posted. That’s an t Delta County 4.0 4.3 continues to retreat in Mesa County, edging increase of more than 77 percent over 2020. t Garfield County 3.8 4.2 down in December to end 2021 at the lowest “It’s a job seeker’s market,” he said. t Mesa County 4.6 4.7 level of the year and offering encouragement While employers have struggled t Montrose County 4.0 4.3 the trend will continue in 2022. to fill openings, they’ve also changed t Rio Blanco County 4.4 4.7 “It’s a really good hiring processes, emphasized benefits and sign as we continue on company cultures and raised wages, he said. the road to recovery,” said Curtis Englehart, The Mesa County Workforce Center will join with the Grand director of the Mesa County Workforce Center Junction Area Chamber of Commerce to present a free webinar on in Mesa County. expediting hiring processes. The online event is set for 10 to 11 a.m. The seasonally unadjusted unemployment Feb. 8. Registration is available through the chamber website at rate edged down a tenth of a point to 4.6 percent https://gjchamber.org. in December, according to the latest estimates For the program year running from July 1, 2020 through from the Colorado Department of Labor and June 30, 2021, 7,938 people were employed within six months of seeking services at the center, Englehart said. Moreover, 741 local Curtis Englehart Employment. The jobless rate declined in nine out of 12 employers also received assistance during that span. “They are months in 2021, falling from a high of 8 percent in January. At this really good numbers.” time last year, the rate stood at 7.2 percent. Looking ahead to 2022, Englehart said he expects the The unemployment rate traditionally spikes in Mesa County unemployment rate to continue to decline even as the Mesa in January to the highest level of the year with layoffs following County economy recovers. But the pace likely will be gradual. the holidays and winter weather affecting outdoor work. Seasonal unadjusted unemployment rates also retreated Englehart said he still expects an increase in January 2022, between November and December in neighboring Western but perhaps not as severe. The January labor estimates aren’t Colorado counties — four-tenths of a point to 3.8 percent in scheduled for release until March 14 because of annual revisions Garfield County and three-tenths of a point to 4 percent in Delta to statistics for the previous year. and Montrose counties and 4.4 percent in Rio Blanco County. Between November and December 2021, Mesa County The statewide seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell three-tenths payrolls decreased 140 to 73,539. But the number of people counted of a point to 4.8 percent as nonfarm payrolls grew 9,000. among those unsuccessfully looking for work also decreased — Over the past year, nonfarm payrolls increased 152,000 115 to 3,518. with the biggest gains in the leisure and hospitality; business and The labor force, which includes the employed and unemployed, professional services; and trade, transportation and utility sectors. fell 255 to 77,057. That ended a streak of four months of gains. Over the past 20 months, Colorado has regained 335,500 of the Compared to a year ago, payrolls increased 2,507 even as the 375,800 jobs lost between February and April 2020 because of the ranks of the unemployed decreased 1,983. The labor force grew 524. COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions. Englehart said labor market demand as measured by the The average workweek for employees on private, nonfarm number of job orders posted at the Mesa County Workforce Center payrolls decreased three-tenths of an hour to 33.2 hours. Average has increased to the highest levels he’s seen during his five years hourly earnings increased $2.08 to $33.28. as director. F The Business Times
AREA JOBLESS RATES
Consumer Confidence Index declines A measure of consumer confidence has retreated on less upbeat expectations for business and labor conditions. The Conference Board reported its Consumer Confidence Index fell 1.4 points to 113.8 in January. A component of the index tracking current conditions increased. But a component tracking the short-term outlook dropped. “Expectations about short-term growth prospects weakened, pointing to a likely moderation in growth during the first quarter of 2022,” said Lynn Franco, senior director of Lynn Franco economic indicators at the Conference Board. Still, a growing proportion of consumers said they plan to buy homes, automobiles and major appliances over the next six months, Franco said. The Conference Board bases the index on the results of monthly household surveys. Economists monitor the index because consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity. More upbeat assessments of current conditions pushed up the present situation component of the index 3.4 points from December to 148.2.
The proportion of consumers responding to the survey upon which the January index was based who said business conditions were “good” rose 1.7 points to 21.1 percent. The share of those who said conditions were “bad” dropped 1.5 points to 25.6 percent. The proportion of those who said jobs were “plentiful” fell eight-tenths of a point to 55.1 percent. But the share of those who said jobs were “hard to get” also fell — four-tenths of a point to 11.3 percent. Less optimistic outlooks for the next six months pulled down the expectations component of the index 4.6 points to 90.8. The share of consumers who said they expect business conditions to improve fell 1.6 points to 23.8 percent. The proportion of those who said they expect conditions to worsen rose four-tenths of a point to 19 percent. The share of those who expected more jobs to become available in the months ahead fell 1.5 points to 22.7 percent. The proportion of those anticipated fewer jobs rose a point to 15.7 percent. While 16.7 percent of consumers said they expected their incomes to increase — down eight-tenths of a point — 12.4 percent said they anticipated their incomes will decrease. That’s up 1.2 points. F
