BUSINESS FILINGS DROP SLIGHTLY IN SECOND QUARTER

Colorado business filings dropped slightly in the second quarter, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, but remain higher than during the same period last year.

Both new entity filings and existing entity renewals dropped compared to the first quarter. According to the state’s Quarterly Business & Economic Indicators Report, in the second quarter of 2017, a total of 29,728 new business filings were recorded in Colorado — a 5.9 percent increase over the same period last year.

The first quarter of 2017 yielded a 9.3 percent increase year-over-year.

“New entity filing continue an upward trajectory, which is good news for our state,” Secretary of State Wayne Williams said in a news release. “There are now nearly 650,000 business entities in good standing filed with our office.”

The business and economic indicators report looks at several factors, including energy costs, the labor market and inflation, according to Williams’ office.

Through May 2017, home prices in Colorado grew at the third-fastest pace nationally — at 9.9 percent — but labor data continues to show weakness in employment growth in rural communities.

“At this time the national economy appears poised to continue the third longest expansion in U.S. history,” Richard Wobbekind, executive director of the secretary of state’s business research division, said in a written statement. “We see few warning signs that could derail this trajectory over the next year. Colorado’s economy is still holding strong.”