Anyone who runs a business or works for one knows that 2009 was a very rough year.
Census numbers released Thursday show just how rough it was: Montezuma County had a net loss of 44 businesses compared to 2008, even though total employment increased slightly.
In neighboring La Plata County, workers lost more than $66 million in paychecks from 2008 to 2009, nearly a tenth of the countys private-sector payroll. The county had 98 fewer businesses in 2009 than in 2008.
Although La Plata County remains the economic hub of the Four Corners, Montezuma Countys business suffered less in 2009. The countys private sector payroll fell by less than 4 percent.
The number of businesses shrunk slightly in every sector, with the biggest losses in construction and retail trade.
However, the biggest losses of income for Montezuma County workers came from the manufacturing and wholesale trade sectors. Wholesale traders sell supplies to other businesses. They include grocery and liquor distributors.
The data shows the deep effects of the housing crash, especially in La Plata County.
Construction companies of all sizes accounted for about half of La Plata Countys business losses and the loss of 513 jobs.
The countys biggest drop in income came in the real estate sector, where the annual payroll fell from 2008s level of $24 million to just under $13 million a year later.
Ed Morlan, executive director of the Region 9 Economic Development District, was not surprised by the data, and he isnt sure if the situation has improved since 2009.
It doesnt seem to be getting any worse, Morlan said.
Montezuma saw a slight increase in its real estate payroll, to $2.6 million.
Donna Graves, a research consultant for Region 9, noted that real estate sales were not very strong in Montezuma County even before the recession, so they did not take as hard a fall as they did in Durango.
Difficulty in the housing market spilled over to other sectors like construction and retail, she said.
It was a national trend.
During the early years of the decade, the nation saw steady, if moderate growth in the number of establishments year to year, said William G. Bostic Jr., associate director for economic programs at the U.S. Census Bureau, in a news release. In contrast, the years 2008 and 2009 coincided with the recession and showed declines. In 2009, we also saw a drop in the number of employees.
The numbers come from the 2009 County Business Patterns report.
The Census Bureau used data from the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration and Bureau of Labor Statistics to compile Thursdays report. The 2009 numbers are the most recent ones available, and they do not include most government or farm employers or self-employed people.
Reach Joe Hanel at joeh@cortezjournal.com.