Occupations (groups of similar jobs found in different industries or organizations) are different from industries (types of activities in which businesses are engaged). For example, a bookkeeper is an occupation which is found in many different industries, like Mining, Retail Trade and Construction. When people talk about their jobs, they are most likely referring to their occupations; but, unless your job is very specific, you could work the same job in many different industries.
If you look at Wyoming’s industry employment over the years, it has changed a great deal. Some industries are doing well while others seem to be declining. In Wyoming’s recent past, there have been two important turning points for the economy. The boom (1981) was the year that Wyoming’s employment reached an all-time peak and the bust (1987) was the year of low employment that followed. The present (1996) is the most recent yearly data that can be directly compared with these other two years.
The Figure and Table show that industry employment in Wyoming is shifting from goods production to service production.
| Table: Industry Rankings by Percent of Total Employment | |||||
| 1981 | 1987 | 1996 | |||
| Rank | Industry | Rank | Industry | Rank | Industry |
| 1 | Retail Trade | 1 | Retail Trade | 1 | Services |
| 2 | Mining | 2 | Services | 2 | Retail Trade |
| 3 | Services | 3 | Local Government | 3 | Local Government |
| 4 | Local Government | 4 | Mining | 4 | Mining |
| 5 | Construction | 5 | Transportation, Communications, & Public Utilities | 5 | Construction |
| 6 | Transportation, Communications, & Public Utilities | 6 | State Government | 6 | State Government |
| 7 | Wholesale Trade | 7 | Construction | 7 | Transportation, Communications, & Public Utilities |
| 8 | State Government | 8 | Manufacturing | 8 | Manufacturing |
| 9 | Manufacturing | 9 | Federal Government | 9 | Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate |
| 10 | Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate | 10 | Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate | 10 | Wholesale Trade |
| 11 | Federal Government | 11 | Wholesale Trade | 11 | Federal Government |
| 12 | Agriculture | 12 | Agriculture | 12 | Agriculture |
This means that instead of producing goods (like mining coal or making clothes), most businesses in the state now provide services (like food at restaurants or rooms in hotels). Industries like Mining have been declining rapidly. In fact, although Mining was the second largest industry during the Boom, it has fallen to the fourth largest at Present; Mining has less than half the workers in 1996 than it did in 1981. On the other hand, industries like Services, which includes businesses like hotels and amusement places, has increased from the third largest industry during the Boom to the largest at Present. The Services industry now has nearly three times as many people working in it than does Mining.
Does this mean that if you are a bookkeeper that it would be better for you to work in Services than in Mining? Not exactly. Mining is by far the best-paid industry in the state with average weekly wages in 1996 of $864. So it is unfortunate that it is also the one in the largest decline. You would probably receive higher wages in Mining than in other industries but your job might be less secure since the industry is declining. Services is one of the worst-paid industries, with average weekly wages in 1996 of $347. Only Agriculture and Retail Trade have lower average weekly wages ($303 and $238, respectively).
Of course, wages vary more by occupation than by industry and some businesses continue to do well even in declining industries; but if you want to maximize your chances of staying in a particular job, you might want to consider what industry you work in as well.