Prospects remain strong for Denver despite short-term pressures

Although it has benefited from a rapidly growing tech sector, Denver’s net job growth since the start of the pandemic is only 2%, which still ranks in the top 20 of 50 metros. Tech-related industries (computer systems design, software, etc.) have added the most jobs over the last two years followed by employment services, which includes temporary staff, and management and technical consulting. We forecast total job growth of 1% in 2023 along with an average annual growth of 1.7% for the 2022-2026 period.

What you will learn:

• Denver has seen GDP growth of 6.4% from Q1 2020 to Q3 2022. This also ranks in the top 20 of 50 metros. GDP growth has been led by finance and insurance and tech. Denver’s diverse economy will help it avoid a recession in 2023, in contrast to half of the top 50 metros, as GDP is expected to grow 0.5%.
• Like a number of Rocky Mountain metros, Denver’s growth has been led by its tech sector, which has added 14,000 jobs (+20%) from Q1 2020. The tech sector has also had GDP growth of 25% since Q1 2020.
• Denver’s aggregate office sector has grown a net 7.2% since Q1 2020. Office jobs are expected to grow 1.2% in 2023 with a five-year average annual growth rate of 1.9% for 2022-2026. We forecast a low but positive office GDP growth of 0.1% in 2023.