Falling oil prices have shut down what had been Weld County’s best-in-the-nation job growth. A new Labor Department report shows the county at the heart of Colorado’s oil industry posted eight percent employment growth between December 2013 and the end of last year. But so far in 2015, Weld County job growth has been essentially zero, says Martin Shields, who directs the Regional Economics Institute at CSU.
"Last year was a phenomenal year, but what the oil markets giveth they taketh away it seems," said Shields. "When prices drop so precipitously, it shows you the whole boom-bust nature of the whole process."
Shields says the county has not yet seen major job losses because of lower oil prices. Crude oil is now less than $70 a barrel. One year ago, the price was $110, reported Forbes.
