National Economic News
The Labor Department reported that national unemployment fell in March, and job creation was weaker than expected. (The Rocky Mountain News, April 2, 2005).
Oil prices surged to new record highs in April, fueling continuing high gasoline prices. (The Rocky Mountain News, April 2, 2005).
In April, national rates on 30 year mortgages chimbed to their highest point in eight months. (The Denver Post, April 3, 2005).
Consumer confidence held steady in April, as measured by the AP-Ipsos consumer confidence index. (The Denver Post, April 10, 2005).
The Commerce Department reported that the federal trade deficit grew to a record $61 Billion in February, leading analysts to lower growth forecasts. (The Denver Post, April 13, 2005).
The Commerce Department reported that U.S. retail sales rose less than forecasted for March, due to the continuing high gasoline prices. (The Denver Post, April 14, 2005).
The stock market indexes fell to their lowest levels for this year on April 14, driven by worries about economic growth. (The Denver Post, April 15, 2005).
Following that up, on April 15 Wall Street suffered its worst single day in nearly two years, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 191 points. (The Rocky Mountain News, April 16, 2005).
Consumer confidence began to fall later in April to its lowest level since September 2003, as consumers spent a greater part of their income on high gasoline prices. (The Rocky Mountain News, April 15, 2005).
Stocks recovered slightly later in the month, based upon announcements of lower than inspected inflation. (The Denver Post, April 20, 2005).
The government announced that consumer prices edged sharply up later in April. (The Denver Post, April 21, 2005).
Stocks ended an erratic month down, driven by concerns over a slowing economy and rising inflation. (The Denver Post, May 1, 2005).
Regional Economic News
In a study conducted by the FDIC, Colorado was ranked in the top 10 of states for job growth in the last three months of 2004. This was a marked improvement over 2003, when the state was in 45th place. (The Denver Post, April 7, 2005).
