Denver Post: Mediocre Jobs Report: Unemployment Steady, But Too Few Jobs Added

The economy added only 80,000 jobs in June -- much less than what is needed to keep up with natural population growth. The unemployment rate was steady at 8.2 percent, largely because another 34,000 unemployed Americans chose not to look for work.

See Also: Washington Post: U.S. added 80,000 jobs in June as economy struggles and Denver Post: Financials Add Jobs While Banks Continue Cutting

Denver Post: Economists believe Colorado's economy one of the healthiest in the U.S.

If Colorado's current job growth rate of about 1.6 percent continues , the state may add 35,000 jobs in 2012, compared to an earlier forecast of 23,000 jobs, which was made in December, said economist Richard Wobbekind of the University of Colorado Boulder's Leeds School of Business. 

Denver Post: Denver home sales improve but still low

Total sales for single-family residences in the Denver residential market in June were up 20 percent over last year, according to the latest data from Metrolist, a listing service serving Colorado real estate agents.

Denver Post: Despite postponement, GE still committed to Aurora solar factory

General Electric Co., which this week said it would postpone construction of a $300 million solar-panel factory in Aurora, said Thursday it remains committed to the project and intends to go ahead when the timing is right. The facility would be the largest solar-panel manufacturing plant in the country and was to employ 355 people.

The Profile: DPS Aims Tax Bump And Bond Package At November Ballot

Over the past three years education has been among the state budget areas suffering additional major cuts as lawmakers struggled to balance a budget bled dry by reductions in revenues from all sources, and hamstrung by the constraints of Colorado's TABOR amendment.