The oil patch gives, and it also can take away.
Weld County, the epicenter of Colorado’s oil and gas drilling boom, fell to 243rd among the nation’s 342 largest counties for job growth in the second quarter, according to an .
Job growth in the county rose at a 1.1 percent annual rate in the second quarter of 2015, down from a 5.2 percent gain in the first quarter that was still strong enough to rank ninth among all large U.S. counties.
What is remarkable is the speed of the slowdown. Weld County consistently held the top spot for job growth quarter after quarter throughout 2013 and 2014.
In the third quarter of 2014, the But that was before Saudi Arabia said it would not restrain production and oil prices began a steep descent.
Now Weld County’s rate of job growth, while still positive, matches that of Camden County, N.J., or Albany County, N.Y.
“Even though oil and gas has weighed on us heavily, the Colorado economy has had a pretty solid year. That speaks to how strong other parts of the economy are,” said Gary Horvath, a Broomfield economist.
Adams County, which with a 5.8 percent gain in jobs in the first quarter, also slipped, but not as severely as Weld County. Adams, with a 4.5 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, tied for 15th with San Francisco County.
Denver County was the state’s top performer among large counties, ranking 14th with a 4.6 percent job growth rate in the second quarter. Douglas County came in 47th with a 3.7 percent rate of job growth, while Larimer County ranked 67th with a 3.4 percent rate and El Paso was 96th with a 2.8 percent increase.
A is calling for job growth statewide to drop to a 2.6 percent pace next year after a 2.9 percent gain this year and a 3.3 percent gain in 2014.
Even though job growth has slowed sharply in Weld County, the unemployment rate remained a low 3.4 percent in November, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or @aldosvaldi
