Despite the word “recession” ricocheting around coffee shops, bars, and hiking trails, Boulder County has and will continue to outperform the state and national economies, according to the 44th annual economic forecast released earlier this month from CU.

While that may sound optimistic, outperforming a failing economy doesn’t necessarily mean doing well. It just means not doing as poorly.

While the national unemployment rate (as of October, 2008) hit 6.5%, the highest projected rate for 2009 in Colorado will hover around 6.4%. Analysts predict Colorado will lose about 4,300 jobs in the coming year, with most of those jobs outside Boulder County. The reason: Boulder’s diversity of employers from aerospace and biotechnology to renewable energy and organic products.

But statistics add little comfort to city officials who have to plan ahead while feeling the pinch of the present. And yet, many seem to find the silver dollar lining in a cloudy economic forecast.