For the period 1997 to 2012, Colorado Real GDP expanded on a more consistent basis than the Colorado manufacturing output. In other words, overall output growth was less volatile.
However; manufacturing Real GDP grew at an annualized rate of 4.6% compared to 2.9% for Real GDP. The faster rate of growth for Colorado occurred, in part, because the manufacturing sector expanded off a much smaller base. Also, a portion of Colorado manufacturing is high value goods, such as electronics.
For this period, total employment increased as an annualized rate of 1.0% and manufacturing declined at an annualized rate of 2.3%. It is clear that gains in output were made as a result of capital expenditures, rather than investment in labor.
Note: At the time of this writing, the 2012 data was the most current data available.
