Under Polis Administration, Economy Forecasted to Continue Strong Growth Ahead of Other States, Add Good-Paying Jobs
DENVER - The Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) released its quarterly economic forecast today.
“Colorado is recovering faster, stronger and ahead of other states,” said Gov. Polis. “While Colorado’s unemployment rate continues to rapidly fall and job growth continues to soar, we are seeing pandemic-induced inflation nationwide, and gas prices rising as a result of Putin’s extreme aggression in Ukraine so my administration is laser focused on our mission to cut costs and fees, save people money on everyday items including prescription drugs.”
The forecast shows that despite nationwide inflation and supply chain headwinds, Colorado’s economy will likely continue to grow stronger, with elevated job growth. The state’s innovative work creating and strengthening programs that help connect job seekers to employers has provided real relief for Coloradans, as Colorado’s unemployment rate continues to decline.
Nationally, pandemic-induced inflation and supply-chain constraints are forecasted to remain a top concern, which is why the Polis Administration remains committed to saving Coloradans money, including saving people money on healthcare, making early childhood education and child care affordable, implementing universal preschool to help save families $4300 per year, reducing vehicle registration fees, cutting the cost of a state parks pass to $29, reducing payroll taxes, delaying any new fees on gas, and more.
The OSPB economic forecast projected General Fund revenue to increase $205.9 million over the December forecast to $16.2 billion in FY 2021-22, a 13.1 percent change from the prior fiscal year. The growth rate is expected to moderate to 2.8 percent in FY 2022-23 and 3.2 percent in FY 2023-24. This upward revision is due to high expected individual income and sales revenue collections, driven by wage and inflation growth.
Total cash fund revenue subject to TABOR is projected to increase by 12.0 percent in FY 2021-22, followed by 1.8 percent growth in FY 2022-23 and 4.4 percent growth in FY 2023-24.
Nationally, the U.S. economy is continuing to rebound, however the nation faces greater headwinds than previously expected as a result of nationwide inflationary pressures as companies pass higher input prices onto consumers. Wage growth is forecasted to continue at a rapid pace, as job openings continue to outnumber unemployed workers.