Consumer borrowing fell in June for a fifth straight month as households keep cutting back on credit card use.

The Federal Reserve says borrowing dropped at an annual rate of $1.3 billion in June. That marked the 16th drop in overall credit in the past 17 months.

Americans backed away from swiping their credit cards for the 21st straight month. That offset a rise in the number of auto loans.

The reduction in borrowing and efforts to by households to boost their savings have acted as a major drag on the overall economy by lowering consumer spending.

New foreclosure filings in Colorado fell 15.7% in the second quarter from the same period of 2009, but foreclosures sales rose 17.7%, the state Division of Housing reported Thursday.

Officials attributed the rise in sales largely to moratoria on foreclosures a year ago that no longer are in effect.

It was the third consecutive quarter with a decline in Colorado filings -- the first step in the foreclosure process -- from the previous quarter, and the lowest quarterly filings tally in five quarters.

Colorado’s Crocs Inc. attributed improved second-quarter performance to further strengthening of its global wholesale and retail businesses, the company said in a report released Thursday.

The Niwot shoe manufacturer reported net income of $32.3 million, for the period compared to a net loss of $30.3 million, for the second quarter of 2009.

Second-quarter revenue increased to $228 million from $197.7 million year over year.

Read more: Denver Business Journal
 

RTD sold nearly $400 million worth of tax-exempt, private activity bonds Wednesday, with the money to be funneled into the private team that will build the Eagle P3 portion of FasTracks.

RTD and Denver Transit Partners are expected to sign financial terms of the $1.649 billion construction deal for the Eagle project on Aug. 12. A groundbreaking is scheduled for Aug. 26 at Denver International Airport.

The nation's employers cut a total of 131,000 jobs in July as the U.S. unemployment rate remained at 9.5%, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday.

The jobless rate was also at 9.5% in June; it had been at 9.7% in May.

The loss of 131,000 non-farm jobs in July exceeds what some economists had forecast for the month.

The economy created 71,000 private-sector positions, less than the 83,000 new jobs reported in June.

But some 143,000 temporary Census jobs ended in July, and some states cut back on employment as well.

The Senate Committee on Health, Labor, Education and Pensions is holding hearings on recruitment practices at for-profit colleges and universities. It follows an Obama Administration proposal to regulate federal aid to for-profit schools.

For-profit schools, such as University of Phoenix, Westwood and Devry University, have grown quickly in the last decade, relying on distance learning and serving, in many cases, students who are currently in the work force.

Colorado’s largest medical-malpractice insurance provider has paid $48,400 in fines and other charges following an examination of its business practices by the Colorado Division of Insurance.

However, COPIC Insurance Co., a state-regulated insurance company based in Denver, is disputing a portion of the state’s finding related to a long-term care benefit it offers subscribers. The company has filed a lawsuit in a Denver District Court over the matter.

Online help-wanted ads in July were at their highest level in 20 months, the Conference Board reports.

After two months of declines, the number of current online ads for Colorado jobs rose by 9,100 in July to 86,600, the highest total since November 2008, the Conference Board’s monthly report on Internet help-wanted advertising says.

The total includes new ads as well as those continuing from previous months.

Read more: Denver Business Journal
 

Sales of craft beer rose 12% in the first six months of this year as compared to the same time period in 2009, the Boulder-based Brewers Association announced Monday.

That growth in a sub-industry that is becoming an increasingly larger part of Colorado’s economy comes despite the fact that overall U.S. beer industry volume sales are down 2.7% from the same time period in 2009, the national association noted.

After a slump in June, manufacturing activity in a seven-state region that includes Colorado rebounded in July, according to the latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Manufacturers in the 10th Federal Reserve District, which includes Colorado, reported higher production in July, with the manufacturing index reaching 14, up from 3 in June. That positive result indicates growth, while a negative result shows contraction.