Colorado’s business leaders are beginning to feel better about the state’s economy thanks to the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a report by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Business Research Division.

Though sentiment is steady from late 2020 to early 2021, experts are predicting improved business conditions during the second quarter of 2021.

“While the Colorado and national economy will likely continue to struggle for many months, there seems to be reason for optimism in the year ahead,” said Richard Wobbekind, senior economist at the CU Leeds School of Business.

For the first quarter of 2021, hundreds of state business leaders gave an average confidence score of 47.9 — below the neutral score of 50. For the second quarter, they gave an average score of 59.5.

Around one in five respondents cited the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for their positive outlooks. One in four said the pandemic was a key consideration in shaping their confidence.

The Business Research Division predicts Colorado will gain 40,500 jobs in 2021, replacing less than one-third of the state’s estimated 2020 job losses.

Colorado’s non-farm employment increased by 8.5% from April to November, adding approximately 209,600 jobs. However, by November, the state added only 6,900 jobs from the previous month.

All of Colorado’s metropolitan areas lost jobs in 2020, with Boulder recording the largest year-over-year decline of minus 7.2%. Grand Junction was the only metropolitan area to show a yearly increase in jobs with a gain of 0.3%.

Business leaders remained pessimistic about the national economy, giving it an average score of 43.5.

Though national employment rates have recovered since April, recovery appears to be stalling, according to the report. In November, U.S. unemployment was at 6.7%.

The report found mixed results regarding worker productivity in 2020. Around 30% of business leaders said productivity had not changed during the pandemic, 33.8% said it had improved and 36.3% said it had worsened.

A plurality of respondents said they do not expect to return to in-person offices until the second or third quarter of 2021.