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Red Rocks Credit Union5 min read

The Colorado Sun: Growing Prices in Denver

 
This article originally appeared in The Colorado Sun.
 

What’s Working: Denver prices grew faster than US in January

Coloradans may have adjusted to higher prices but they’re not by cutting back on sports or outdoor activities, says Red Rocks Credit Union poll. Plus: Colorado’s global trade, free tax help day and more!

Written By: Tamara Chuang

 When prices go up, people shift their spending patterns. In Colorado, that’s meant scaling back on travel, streaming services and dining out. But cutting back on outdoor activities? Not so much, according to a poll put together by Red Rocks Credit Union.
 
“We have three of the most premier sports teams in the country and we also have one of the most attractive outdoor scenes in the world,” said Darius Wise, president and CEO of the Littleton-based credit union that wanted to find out more about what customers prioritize.
 
But what really got his attention was the 83% of respondents that said rising costs have forced changes in how they live and spend.
 
“That’s a big deal for us,” Wise said. “When they talk about rent and mortgage, utilities and car-related costs, that’s the space where we play, and where we serve our members. We’re honing in to better understand that feedback.”
 
The little survey, conducted in December, caught Colorado consumers at a time when prices were rising faster than the nation. Between November and January, the Consumer Price Index logged a 0.6% increase in Denver-area prices, according to the latest inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday.

After being below the nation for most of the past two years, Denver inflation rose by 2.6% in January, compared with 2.4% for the U.S.

But inflation was higher two, three and four years ago. And Denver’s rate being above the U.S. is more the norm, at least for nine of the past 12 years, said Gary Horvath, a Broomfield economist.

“At a high level, the culprit is core inflation,” Horvath said in an email.

Core inflation is the cost of everything except food and energy, which tend to be too volatile. Remove food and energy from Denver’s rate, and prices grew 3.3% over the year, he said. In the U.S., core inflation was 2.7%.

Blame the core products like medical care, up 6.7%; alcoholic beverages, up 6.6%; household furnishings, up 8.8%; apparel, up 9.3%; and personal services, like haircuts, up 9.5% in the Denver area.
 
At least the gasoline index, which measures all types of gas for automobiles, was down 18.3% in the year. So was the cost of education and college tuition, down 8.6%, and the energy index, including household electricity, was down 9.1% from a year ago.
 
Food prices continued to increase, up 2.2%. That was largely due to dining out at restaurants, where costs were up 5% in a year. The cost of buying groceries and eating at home, however, was relatively unchanged though it has crept up 3.6% since November.
 
“There are areas where the rate causes inconveniences for many people,” Horvath said. “We have been spoiled with lower costs for gasoline, but looking ahead, I am concerned about inflation from rate hikes for utilities and inefficiencies from budget shortfalls in state and local governments and schools.”

All of that seems to be what showed up on the Red Rocks Credit Union’s survey. The areas most consumers would cut before giving up sports or the outdoors? Dining out, followed by travel and vacations, then clothing and shopping.

Wise said he hopes it doesn’t have to come to that. At a local credit union, Red Rocks can make decisions faster than a large bank. When the federal government shut down in October, Wise said they let their members know that zero-interest loans were available. Six took them up on the offer. And it wasn’t the first time.

“Members who are in distress, we look for ways to support them during hard times and so that noninterest loan just says to our membership that we’re here for you. You’re not getting a paycheck,” he said. “We want to be that financial institution that helps bridge the gap.”

How tumultuous tariffs impacted Colorado in November

With full-year data on how Colorado fared in international trade last year expected soon, we do have November data for Colorado.

During the month, the value of imports was down 2.2% to $1.21 billion, from November of 2024. That was similar to the year-long trend in imports. But exports also fell 4.6% in November from a year earlier to $827.8 million. That’s the opposite of the trend last year.

Colorado exports grew in the first 11 months last year, up 4% to $10.1 billion from the same period in 2024. Imports shrank 2.3% to $15.1 billion, according to the World Institute for Strategic Economic Research, aka WISERTrade, a Massachusetts research firm that tracks global trade.

“I think the bigger story here is that all of the changes in trade policy (in 2025) only resulted in a slight decline in the import numbers,” Karen Gerwitz, president and CEO of the World Trade Center Denver, said in an email. “I attribute this to uncertainty of trade policy, increased tariffs and the stockpiling of inventory prior to tariffs kicking in.”

Some of the higher tariffs never kicked in, while others were paused, lowered or negotiated. When the United States upped its tariffs on imports from China by 34% in April, which China matched, that trade war quickly escalated to above 100% on both sides, before falling back to a 10% reciprocal tariff rate today.

According to a report from the Office of State Planning and Budgeting, the effective tariff rate Colorado businesses paid on imports was 17.3%, as of December, down from 21% estimated in September. The drop was due to trade agreements with China and new exemptions on some agricultural products.

The report also pointed out that if the U.S. Supreme Court agrees with retailers that the Trump administration’s use of emergency powers to raise tariffs was illegal and should be reversed, the state’s effective tariff rate would drop to 7.1%. As of Friday, the decision was still pending.

Other Colorado companies are interested in the results, including Broomfield-based footwear company Crocs, which sued the federal government in December to try to get a refund of the $54 million it paid in tariffs last year.

“Absolutely no one wins in a trade war, not companies, not consumers, and not Colorado,” Gov. Jared Polis said in an email. “Tariffs are a tax on businesses and stifle innovation. It is disappointing to see the President continue to pursue costly and irresponsible tariffs, increasing prices for all Coloradans, costing Colorado business money, and hurting our international relationships. We are tired of the pendulum swings on tariffs, and are calling for stability, consistency and lower prices.”