A huge employment rift has opened up between Larimer and Weld counties, with the first maintaining respectable job growth last year while the second is bleeding jobs at one of the fastest rates in the country.
Larimer County had 3.7 percent more jobs in December 2015 than it did in the same month in 2014, ranking it first among nine large Colorado counties and 46th nationally, according to a report Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Weld County, by contrast, suffered a 3.1 percent drop in employment last year, ranking it last in Colorado and 333rd out of the 342 large U.S. counties, the bureau reported.
Despite those job losses, Weld County’s unemployment rate in May was 3.6 percent, down from 3.9 percent in May 2015. One reason could be that some Weld County workers are finding jobs in Larimer County and metro Denver and not showing up in the unemployment counts.
“Do people cross? They cross over all the time,” said Rich Werner, president and CEO of Upstate Colorado. “There is no border between Larimer and Weld counties. We have a regional workforce and a regional economy.”
Werner said residents at the south edge of the county tend to look toward Adams County and the metro area for opportunities, while those to the north and in Greeley are more likely to head to Loveland and Fort Collins.
In 2013 and 2014, Weld consistently ranked first among large U.S. counties for employment growth, which topped 8 percent during some quarters. But a sharp drop in oil and gas drilling have sapped that momentum.
Weld County accounts for about 90 percent of the state’s oil production and is the top Colorado county for natural gas production. Oil and gas producers last year managed to boost production, but this year they have sharply cut back on spending. As a result, Werner said, this year will be more severe than last when it comes to layoffs.
Slumping farm prices also hit hard in Weld County, which is the state’s top agricultural county. Colorado farm incomes were down by a third last year compared with the 2013 peak and are falling an additional 20 percent this year, according to an update Monday from the Colorado Legislative Council.
Larimer County, by contrast, continues to see strong job gains in manufacturing, professional and business services and construction. Colorado State University provides a strong economic anchor through good and bad times.
“Everybody was waiting for the sky to fall given such an unprecedented drop in oil and gas,” Werner said. Instead, the state should invest more in the region’s roadways, especially adding a third lane in each direction along Interstate 25, he said.
Werner was stuck in traffic on the highway at 2:40 p.m. when making the comment.
While not stellar, the metro Denver counties, along with El Paso County, all managed rates of employment growth that were in the top third of large U.S. counties.
The average weekly wage in Colorado last year was $1,103 last year, higher than the $1,082 national average. Denver County workers pulled down the highest average weekly wages at $1,292, with Douglas County workers next at $1,291.
The Bureau of Labor Statistic defines a large county as one with employment of 75,000 or more. Only two Colorado counties not considered large paid average weekly wages above the U.S. average: Broomfield and Pitkin.
Mineral County had the lowest average weekly in the state last year at $541, followed by Costilla County at $553 and Baca County at $554. Mineral County also happened to have the state’s lowest unemployment rate in April at 1.3 percent.
Adams County reported the strongest gains in the average weekly wage among Colorado’s large counties at 5.1 percent, followed by Boulder at 5 percent. Nationally, average weekly wages rose 4.4 percent last year, the bureau said.
