National Economic News
The nation's retailers reported their results for July, with sales falling below expectations. (The Denver Post, August 5, 2005).
The Labor Department announced the largest growth in hiring in 3 months, with 207,000 new jobs across a range of industries. (The Rocky Mountain News, August 6, 2005).
The Federal Reserve Board raised short-term interest rates by a quarter of a point on August 9. This was the 10th increase in 14 months in the Feds quest to contain inflation. (The Denver Post, August 10, 2005).
The Labor Department reported that nationwide productivity rose at 2.2 percent in the second quarter of 2005. (The Denver Post, August 10, 2005).
Soaring oil prices throughout the month of August, served to keep the stock market indexes muted, with marginal increases by the end of the month. (The Denver Post, August 11, 2005).
Nationwide, sales of previously owned homes fell in July, but the sales pace was still the third-highest ever. (The Denver Post, August 24, 2005).
Regional Economic News
The Labor Department reported that increasing energy prices fueled inflation in the metro Denver area during the first six months of the year. (The Denver Post, August 17, 2005).
In August, the median price of single family homes in the Denver metro area hit a record high of $255,000. Condo prices dipped slightly to $162,499. (The Denver Post, August 24, 2005).
Colorado's unemployment rate dropped again to 5.0% in August 2005. This is down from the 5.5% in August 2004. Boulder County's rate dropped from 4.6% in July to 4.3% in August. Broomfield County's rate also dropped from 4.7% in July to 4.2% last month.
