After the unemployment rate climbed to 8.2 percent in September, it’s hard to say the state’s economy is doing well. As Donald J. Mares, executive director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, says, “We have not seen the economic jump-start that everyone is eager to see, and these last several months have underscored the fact that little activity is an expected part of a slow recovery process” (via the Loveland Reporter-Herald).

Yet there are some glimmers of hope, like an influx of jobs for the holiday season and the findings of the 10th annual “State Competitiveness Report” from Boston’s Beacon Hill Institute, which claims that Colorado is second only to North Dakota when it comes to economic competitiveness in the United States (via the Denver Business Journal). The ranking is based on dozens of indicators in categories that include government and fiscal policy, security, human resources, technology, openness, and environmental policy.

Colorado finishes among the top states in terms of technology, business incubation, and infrastructure, and that’s all good news for Bob Moody, who will serve as the 2010-11 chairman for C3, or the Colorado Competitive Council, a statewide business-advocacy group, reports the Journal (in a separate article). He replaces Perry Pearce of Conoco Phillips, C3’s leader for the last two years.