Since the 1987 "bust," total payroll has slowly and steadily increased as shown in graph one. Total payroll has ranged from a low $787,333,917 in first quarter 1987 to an all time high of $1,385,232,516 in the fourth quarter 1997. When the effect of inflation is removed (“deflated,” via CPI-U), total payroll increased in “real” dollar terms by $112 million (3.6%) over the 1996-97 time period. In other words, these were additional “real” dollars going into consumer’s pockets, or more pockets with more dollars per pocket. (The rate of inflation was 3.0% and 2.3%, respectively in 1996-97.)
Annual Wages In 1997, eight major industrial divisions were above the $23,681 statewide annual wage including: mining, $47,053; federal government, $37,156; transportation, communications, & public utilities, $33,283; manufacturing, $30,798; wholesale trade, $29,133; finance, insurance & real estate, $28,954; state government, $26,828; and construction, $25,509. Four industrial divisions were below the statewide annual wage in 1997, including: local government, $22,467; services, $18,712; agriculture, $16,161; and retail trade, $12,884.
Detailed 2 & 3 Digit Industry Annual Wages (see SIC Short Title Listing)
The 1997 twenty highest detailed industry average annual wages in Wyoming included:
Comparably, the following are the 1997 twenty lowest detailed industry average annual wages in Wyoming:
Wages in 1997 are not equally dispersed among employees. The 1997 twenty highest detailed industry average annual wages in Wyoming employed 13,842 workers (6.4%) that earned $775,755,340 total wages (15.0%). Holding offices (SIC 671, FIRE) only had 133 employees in 1997! However, the opposite is true for the 1997 twenty lowest detailed industry average annual wages in Wyoming holding 32,037 jobs (14.8%) earning $299,995,524 total wages (5.8%)! Eating & drinking places (SIC 581, retail trade) had 17,079 employees in 1997- many more employees than the total of the twenty highest wages!
Geographically, three Wyoming regions exceeded the statewide average annual wage of $23,681: Southwest Region with $26,415; Northeast Region with $25,478; and Central Region with $23,942 per year. The Southeast Region with $21,998 and Northwest Region with $21,329 fell below the 1997 Wyoming average annual wage of $23,681. Six counties exceeded Wyoming’s average annual wage: Sweetwater (Southwest Region) with $31,714; Campbell (Northeast Region) with $30,420; Nonclassified with $25,695; Converse (Central Region) with $24,682); Lincoln (Southwest Region) with $24,270; Natrona (Central Region) with $24,130. The lowest average annual wages by county occurred in Niobrara (Southeast Region) with $17,177; Goshen (Southeast Region) with $18,180; Hot Springs (Northwest Region) with $18,343; and Johnson (Northeast Region) with $18,517. All counties' and regions' experienced average annual wage increases over the 1996-97 time period with the exception of Hot Springs County (Northwest Region).
Employment by Industry Wyoming is basically a service-producing state (transportation, wholesale and retail trade, finance, services, state, local, and federal government). Services with 21.5% of Wyoming’s workers remained as the largest employment division in Wyoming. Services showed the largest 1996-97 employment gain of 989 jobs (2.2%). Within services, business services gained 422 jobs (7.8%), health services gained 309 jobs (3.1%), and engineering and management services gained 87 jobs (2.6%). Wholesale trade, the eighth largest employment division (3.6% of Wyoming’s employment) within private industry (see Table 10), showed the fourth largest 1996-97 employment gain of 368 jobs (5.0%). Wholesale trade-durable goods increased by 214 workers (5.3%), and within durable goods machinery, equipment & supplies gained 114 jobs (5.1%). Wholesale trade-non durable goods increased by 153 jobs (4.6%). Retail trade, the second largest employment division (20.7% of Wyoming’s employment), posted a 45 job (0.1%) increase. Within retail trade, miscellaneous retail gained 152 jobs (3.2%), furniture and home furnishings gained 115 jobs (8.7%), food stores gained 99 jobs (1.9%), and automotive dealers & service stations gained 96 jobs (1.3%). Eating & drinking places suffered a 220 job loss (-1.3%), general merchandise stores lost 93 jobs (-1.8%), and apparel & accessory stores decreased by 67 jobs (-4.4%) within retail trade. Finance, insurance, & real estate (FIRE), the ninth largest industrial division (3.7% of Wyoming’s employment), increased by 227 jobs (2.9%).Within FIRE, depository institutions gained 68 workers (2.3%), insurance carriers gained 49 workers (4.2%), and nondepository institutions gained 34 workers (10.7%). State government, the sixth largest division (5.4% of Wyoming’s employment), increased 98 workers (0.8%). The third largest employment sector, local government (15.8% of Wyoming workers), barely gained 16 workers (0.0%). Within local government, health services gained 418 jobs (7.9%) and educational services gained 239 jobs (1.3%). Counteracting these gains within local government, executive, legislative & general government lost 282 (-3.6%); administration of human resources lost 53 (-16.7%); and environmental quality lost 43 jobs (-7.7%). Employment declined in transportation, communications, & public utilities (TCPU) (5.1% of Wyoming’s workers) with a loss of 20 jobs (-0.2%). Within TCPU, electric, gas & sanitary services lost 91 jobs (-2.8%) and trucking & warehousing lost 61 (-1.7%); communications gained 65 jobs (3.4%) and local & interurban passenger transit gained 33 jobs (5.8%). Federal government (3.3% of Wyoming’s workers) lost 191 jobs (-2.6%). Within federal government, public administration lost 177 jobs (-3.8%), services lost 32 jobs (-3.1%), and retail trade gained 54 jobs (43.9%).
The goods-producing industries (construction, mining, manufacturing) showed a healthy increase overall in the number of jobs worked. Mining, the fourth largest employment division with 7.8% of Wyoming’s workers, increased 948 jobs (6.0 %). Oil and gas extraction gained 967 jobs (13%), metal mining gained 70 jobs (11.7%), and non-metallic minerals, except fuels gained 61 jobs (1.9%). Coal mining lost 150 jobs (-3.2%) within the mining division. Construction with 6.9% of Wyoming’s workers increased by a good 818 jobs (5.7%). Special trade contractors gained 493 jobs (7.3%); heavy construction, except building, increased by 181 jobs (4.4 %); and general building contractors gained 143 jobs (4.2 %). Manufacturing with 6.9% of Wyoming’s workers lost a mere 47 jobs (-0.4%). Significant job gains within manufacturing included 86 in transportation equipment (40.2%), 61 in stone, clay, glass, and concrete products (7.9%), and 51 in fabricated metal products (11.1%). However, significant job losses in manufacturing included 137 in lumber and wood products (-9.6%) and 104 in industrial machinery and equipment (-8.4%).
Geographically, all regions and businesses not classified by county showed average monthly employment growth between 1996 and 1997. The Central Region with 18.5% of Wyoming’s jobs (see map) led the other regions in 1996-97 annual average monthly employment growth with a gain of 1,076 jobs (2.8%). Most of the Central Region’s increase occurred in Natrona (13.6% of Wyoming’s jobs) and Converse (2.0% of Wyoming’s jobs) counties. Services, retail trade, government, and mining play a big part in the Central region. All divisions, with the exception of retail trade, manufacturing, and federal government, in the Central Region showed good employment gains.
The Southwest Region, generating 22.1% of Wyoming’s jobs, posted a 551 job (1.2%) gain. Most of the Southwest region’s increase occurred in Teton (6.5% of Wyoming’s jobs) and Sweetwater (8.8% of the state’s jobs and 11.7% of Wyoming’s total payroll) counties. Tourism, construction, mining, and government play a big part in the Southwest Region. Most divisions, with the exception of transportation, manufacturing, and government, in the Southwest Region showed modest employment gains.
As shown in Table 1, Natrona County (Central Region) recorded the highest 1996-97 annual monthly employment gain of 1,010 jobs (3.5%), and generates 13.6 percent of Wyoming’s jobs with 13.7 percent of Wyoming’s total payroll. Most of Natrona’s growth (see Table 127) was in the service-producing sector, mainly in the services, mining, transportation, local government, and wholesale trade divisions. Services, retail trade, local government, and wholesale trade are the largest industrial divisions in Natrona County.
Generating 6.5 percent of Wyoming’s jobs and 6.2% of Wyoming’s total payroll, Teton County (Southwest Region) recorded the second highest 1996-97 annual monthly employment gain of 437 jobs (3.2%). Teton County is very dependent upon tourism and is highly influenced by executive pay and/or bonuses. Executive pay/bonuses in Teton County were paid in excess of $10 million in 1997.
Nonclassified jobs increased statewide in 1997-96 by 533 workers (9.9%).
Six counties posted employment losses during the 1996-97 time period. In the Northwest Region, Hot Springs County lost 69 jobs (-3.4%) and Fremont lost 45 (-0.3%). Carbon (Central Region) decreased by 49 workers (-0.8%). In the Southeast Region, Niobrara lost 33 jobs (-4.0%). Uinta County in the Southwest Region suffered a loss of 11 jobs (-0.1%). Weston County suffered a 1996-97 employment loss of 6 jobs (-0.3%) in the Northeast Region
Wyoming’s employment and earnings growth is not distributed evenly geographically or industrially. Total payroll and employment in Wyoming does not seem to be affected by national economic activity. National economic indicators for 1997 have not yet been published but are due in late fall.
Readers can find regional, county, and industry changes in the Trends: first quarter 1998, October 1998 issue; second quarter 1998, January 1999 issue; third quarter 1998, April 1999 issue; fourth quarter 1998, July issue; and first quarter 1999, October 1999 issue. So don’t miss them!
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