An increase in new business filings in Colorado bodes well for further economic growth in the state.

“Colorado continues to be a great place to not only start a business, but to stay in business. I’m very excited to see our business community continue to thrive in the state,” said Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

The research division of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder compiles quarterly business and economic indicator reports based in part on filings recorded with the secretary of state’s office.

For the third quarter of 2023, the office recorded 43,902 new entity filings. That was an increase of six-tenths of a point over the third quarter of 2022. New filings constituted a leading indicator of subsequent business and job growth.

Compared to the second quarter of 2022, however, new filings fell 20 percent.

Richard Wobbekind, faculty director of the research division, attributed the decreased to the end of a program offering reduced filing fees. “This report reflects what we believe to be a normalization of the filings following the conclusion of the fee reduction.”

Over the year ending in the third quarter of 2023, 203,388 new entity filings were recorded. That’s a gain of 25.2 percent over the same span a year ago.

A total of 175,785 existing entity renewals were recorded for the third quarter of 2023. That’s up 2.7 percent from the second quarter and 7.3 percent from the third quarter of 2022.

For the year ending in the second quarter of 2023, 712,138 entity renewals were recorded. That’s a gain of 2.6 percent over the same period a year ago.

Business dissolution filings edged down 1 percent year-over-year with 11,495 filings during the third quarter of 2023.

A total of 959,680 entities were in good standing in Colorado as of the third quarter of 2023, up 8.5 percent from the same quarter last year.

Other indicators included in the third quarter reflected mixed signals.

Job growth continued to show signs of  slowing. As of September, the latest month for which estimates were available, nonfarm payrolls increased 40,000 over the past year. The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 3.2 percent in September, below the national jobless rate of 3.9 percent in October.

Inflation is expected to moderate. The Consumer Price Index for a metropolitan area including Denver, Aurora and Lakewood was up 5.4 percent in September on a year-over-year basis. That compares to a 7.7 percent gain a year ago.