The Leeds Business Research Division at CU Boulder has been recording Colorado business confidence for the last 17 years based on a scale, with 50 points being a neutral level. At the beginning of the year, the business confidence level in Colorado was sitting at right about 50, but with the recent layoffs and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, the scale has dropped to 29.7, the lowest its been since the scale was introduced–with scores being even lower than 2009 recession level confidence.

The scale is compiled from business leaders’ expectations around Colorado and consists of expectations for the state and national economies, industry sales, industry profits, hiring and business spending. More than 400 business leaders responded to the latest survey over the course of the last month.

“The survey reflects the rapid deterioration of the economy and how business leaders are digesting the early days of this worldwide crisis,” Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the Leeds Business Research Division, said in a statement that accompanied the release of the report early this morning. “Our survey also took place before the latest batch of economic data, which doesn’t look very promising.”

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