Colorado biz leaders’ confidence at one of the lowest levels in decades

Business leaders in Colorado are less optimistic about the state and national economy than they have been in years, due in large part to President Donald Trump’s policies toward trade and the administration’s attempts to slash federal spending.

BOULDER — Business leaders in Colorado are less optimistic about the state and national economy than they have been in years, due in large part to President Donald Trump’s policies toward trade and the administration’s attempts to slash federal spending.The University of Colorado Leeds Business Confidence Index hit its third-lowest mark ahead of the second quarter of 2025. Only twice have business leaders felt more pessimistic: the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the second quarter of 2020 and during the housing and financial crisis that led to the Great Recession in the first quarter of 2009.

“We saw sentiment fall pretty sharply” from the first to the second quarter of this year, Leeds Business Research Division executive director Brian Lewandowski said. “It was the second largest decrease that we recorded in the 23-year history (of the Leeds Business Confidence Index), and it fell from a very neutral point.”The LBCI fell from a score of 50 in the first quarter of 2025 to 31.

9 heading into the second quarter. An LBCI score — which is based on impressions of the state economy, national economy, industry sales, industry profits, industry hiring and capital expenditures — of 50 is neutral.“There’s a lot of uncertainty out there when it comes to the impact of tariffs and the restructuring of the federal government,” Lewandowski said.

All six of the LBCI component metrics fell in the second quarter. More than 77% of respondents expressed a negative view of the Colorado economy, and a similar percentage of survey-takers felt negatively about the national economy.While the Colorado economy is certainly slowing, Lewandowski noted that “Colorado’s GDP is still at a record level, and Colorado’s personal income is still at a record level, and Colorado’s per capita personal income is still at a record level.

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I want to zoom out and just emphasize the point that our economy is still operating at its maximum level that we’ve really ever seen.”This article was first published by BizWest, an independent news organization, and is published under a license agreement. © 2025 BizWest Media LLC.

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