Colorado Job Losses Expose Branding Versus Results

Colorado Politics reports that Colorado’s labor market in 2025 was not slowly growing after all. It was shrinking. In the April 13, 2026 piece by Bernadette Berdychowski, revised state labor data showed Colorado lost 11,700 jobs last year, an annual decline of 0.4%, marking the first statewide job losses since the pandemic.

The article says the new benchmarking data from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment also showed a weaker labor force. Colorado’s labor force participation rate fell from a revised 67.6% in January 2025 to 66.8% in January 2026. University of Colorado Boulder economist Brian Lewandowski said the state is facing headwinds on both labor supply and demand, with slow population growth, falling participation, and one of the lowest job opening rates in 2025. Meanwhile, private-sector losses hit trade, transportation and utilities, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, financial activities, and professional and business services, while government jobs also dropped.

The Bullet Point Brief

Colorado did not eke out weak growth in 2025. It lost 11,700 jobs, according to revised state data. That is the kind of number that cuts right through the usual glossy pamphlet language about momentum and resilience.
The labor force got weaker too. The participation rate fell from 67.6% to 66.8% over the year. So even the lower unemployment revision comes with an asterisk the size of Pikes Peak, because fewer people in the workforce can make the headline look tidier than the reality.
Educational and health services added 14,200 jobs, but a whole lot of other sectors got kicked in the shins. Trade, transportation and utilities lost 4,500 jobs, leisure and hospitality lost 4,400, manufacturing lost 4,200, financial activities lost 4,000, and government lost 4,000 too.
Regionally, Greeley was the strongest performer at 1.3% job growth, with Fort Collins and Grand Junction also positive. Denver was flat. Boulder had the steepest losses at 1.1%, with Pueblo and Colorado Springs also down. Turns out the pain is not theoretical. It has a zip code.
The article also notes business sentiment has been negative, citing the Leeds Business Confidence Index, with tariff policy, spending cuts, and volatile energy prices all part of the mood. So no, Colorado is not the only place facing economic headwinds. But that does not exactly comfort the family staring at a shrinking paycheck economy.

My Bottom Line

This is what one-party control produces when it goes on too long and gets too comfortable.

For seven years, Governor Polis and the ruling Democrats have sold Colorado as a polished lifestyle brand. Innovation. Vibrancy. Opportunity. Forward-looking this, future-ready that. Meanwhile, the actual scoreboard just flashed a pretty ugly number: job losses. Not slower growth. Not a disappointing quarter. Actual contraction. Real jobs, really gone.

And this is where the political test comes in for the Great Colorado suburban normie. This fall, voters get a choice. Not between two moods. Not between two sets of vibes. Between data and delusion. Between results and branding. The state lost jobs for the first time since the pandemic. Labor force participation dropped. Major sectors shed workers. That is not partisan spin. That is the receipt.

The frustrating part is that too many voters still treat politics like a personality quiz with yard signs. They ask who sounds nicer, who seems more modern, who talks the smoothest, who makes them feel least awkward at brunch. Fine. Enjoy the vibes. But vibes do not create jobs. Vibes do not lower costs. Vibes do not reverse a shrinking labor market. Vibes are what politicians sell when the results are lousy and they need you to stop looking at the numbers.

So here we are. Colorado has the data. Colorado has the results. The question is whether voters have the stomach to admit what those results say. Because if the answer this fall is still “yes, but we liked the aesthetic,” then we should stop pretending to be shocked when the economy keeps drifting and the people in charge keep congratulating themselves for making everything worse.

Source: Colorado Politics