Job growth in Colorado is expected to slow next year as an overtaxed infrastructure system and worker shortages weigh on the economy, according to the Colorado Business Economic Outlook 2018. The outlook doesn’t call for a downturn. If one is in the cards, it probably won’t start to show up nationally until 2019. Rather, it projects hiring in Colorado will slow next year, not because of a lack of job openings but rather a lack of workers to fill those positions.

Colorado’s red-hot population growth rate is cooling, and while current residents may celebrate, those who are leaving in increasing numbers say they were driven away by rising housing prices, jobs that don’t pay enough and traffic jams.

Sounds like a boom is leveling off. And that’s a good thing for Colorado as the state is remaining economically sound and it is just balancing the dramatic growth it took for the last 10 yrs.

The commercial real estate is again at its high, Industrial lease rates continue to rise, supported by restraint in new construction. About three-quarters of what is in the pipeline will be built around Denver International Airport and on the north side of the metro area.

Denver developers have nearly 1.2 million square feet of retail space under construction and delivered 313,000 square feet of new retail space, a 9 percent increase compared with the same period last year.

The grocery sector has been on the rise with several newly opened or planned grocery centers. Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and King Soopers all are pursuing deals in the market. King Soopers is looking to build up its market share, evidenced by its first downtown location and a number of 125,000-sf “marketplace” stores. Both Trader Joe’s and Sprouts have completed ground-up and leased locations throughout the metro area. The most recent was Trader Joe’s lease at West Bowles and South Wadsworth, making it the sixth location in Colorado. Big business enterprises as mentioned above are growing in this economy showing proof continued growth and profits building for the sound economy in the Denver area and growing around the state.

The unemployment rate in metro Denver dipped to 2.1 percent in April, which was the lowest of any metro area with 1 million or more people, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, the unemployment rate has declined an impressive 40 percent over the last 12 quarters.

The dramatic rise in employment is considered a leading economic indicator of the commercial real estate market and, undoubtedly, has strengthened office market fundamentals in Denver.

The U.S. market economy affects all aspects of life in the nation and its impact is felt around the globe. The activity that scholars say boils down to “goods and services” and “supply and demand” has created a dynamic way of life marked by freedom, many levels of wealth and dramatic innovation. Nearly everything Americans do each day is tied in some way to the economy – their work, education, personal relationships and even what they eat. In fact, the money that Americans spend as they live their lives is the cornerstone of this system and the mood of consumers largely determines just how well the economy performs. Economic activity in the United States is closely watched around the world and measurements of it often dominate the news and conversation at the dinner table. And the benefits of it all reach deep. “The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product,” President Barack Obama said when he took office on Jan. 20, 2009, “but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart – not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.”