Wyoming Labor Force Trends
January 2025 | Volume 62, No. 1
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2024Q2 Quarterly Update
Construction Drives Wyoming Employment Growth
by: Michael Moore, Research Supervisor
This article provides an overview of Wyoming’s employment and wages in second quarter 2024 at the county and industry levels. The construction sector was responsible for almost half of all new jobs in the state.
Wyoming added nearly 2,300 jobs and $212.0 million in total wages over the year in second quarter 2024 (2024Q2; see Table 1). This marked the 13th consecutive quarter (more than three years) of over-the-year job growth; however, it should be noted that job growth has slowed during each of the last few quarters. The 0.8% growth rate in 2024Q2 was the lowest Wyoming has seen since the end of the most recent economic downturn in 2021.
This article looks at quarterly employment and wages at the county and industry levels for 2024Q2 compared to the prior year. In particular, the article provides a comprehensive look at job and wage growth in Wyoming's construction sector. Finally, this article provides a look at 10 industry subsectors by county to gain a greater understanding of where job growth occurred from 2023Q2 to 2024Q2.
The data discussed in this article are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). Data from 2024Q2 are available at https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/24Q2_QCEW/toc.htm.
Introduction
Wyoming’s average monthly employment in 2024Q2 was 282,975, an increase of 2,288 jobs (0.8%) compared to 2023Q2 (see Table 2). The state had $4.2 billion in total wages, up $212.0 million (5.3%) over the year. Wyoming's average weekly wage increased from $1,097 to $1,145 ($49, or 4.4%).
Wyoming employment typically increases from first quarter to second, before peaking in third quarter and then dropping in fourth quarter (see Figure 1). The blue dots in Figure 1 represent data points for second quarter each year. The shaded areas in the figures in this article represent periods of economic downturn. The Research & Planning (R&P) section of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services has defined an economic downturn as a period of at least two consecutive quarters of over-the-year decreases in average monthly employment and total wages based on data from the QCEW. Wyoming has endured three such economic downturns since 2009: 2009Q1 to 2010Q1, 2015Q2 to 2016Q4, and 2020Q2 to 2021Q1 (see Figure 2). Wyoming’s most recent downturn was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and declines in the prices of and demand for the state’s energy resources. While each downturn had its own unique circumstances, declining energy prices preceded all three (Moore, 2019).
As illustrated in Figure 2, 2024Q2 marked the 13th consecutive quarter over-the-year growth in employment and wages in Wyoming. In addition, 2023Q4 was also the sixth consecutive quarter during which Wyoming surpassed pre-pandemic employment levels from 2019.
Industry
Industries are organized by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). A sample of the NAICS hierarchal structure for mining (NAICS 21) can be found in Box 1. This section of the article primarily discusses statewide employment and wages at the sector (or two-digit NAICS) level.
As shown in Table 3, the private industries that added the most jobs over the year were construction (1,090 new jobs, or 4.9%), health care & social assistance (275, or 1.1%), and other services, except public administration (178, or 2.4%).
Several industries saw substantial over-the-year job losses, including financial activities (-201, or -1.7%), information (-193, or -6.0%), and wholesale trade, transportation, & utilities (-145, or -0.7%). Mining (including oil & gas) lost 1,067 jobs (-6.3%); however, as noted by Moore (2024a):
"Over-the-year changes in employment and wages in 2024Q1 in mining (including oil & gas) and local government were due in part to non-economic code changes. These types of changes occur when employers are reclassified to better reflect their ownership and/or their industry. For example, if a county government were to purchase a grocery store from a private business owner and continue to operate that store, that employer would be reclassified from private ownership to local government."
Job gains were also seen in federal (300, or 3.8%), state (619, or 5.0%), and local (1,452, or 3.1%) government.
Wyoming's average weekly wage in 2024Q2 was $1,145 (see Figure 3). The highest wages were seen in mining, including oil & gas ($1,942), professional & business services ($1,654), and federal government ($1,653). The lowest wages were found in leisure & hospitality ($515) and retail trade ($695).
Wyoming's average monthly employment of 282,975 in 2024Q2 was 3,821 jobs (1.4%) higher compared to 2019Q2 prior to the pandemic.
Mining, Including Oil & Gas (NAICS 21)
Wyoming's mining sector saw over-the-year job growth for 10 consecutive quarters before decreases were seen in 2024Q1 and 2024Q2 (see Figure 4 and Figure 5). Again, it is important to remember that the majority of job losses in mining were due to non-economic code changes. Despite a near three-year period of over-the-year job growth, mining has not returned to pre-pandemic employment levels. Figure 4 and Figure 5 show just how substantial the job losses were in mining during each of the past two economic downturns. The average monthly employment of 16,005 was down compared to 20,913 five years ago in 2019Q2 (-4,908, or -23.5%), and 27,024 10 years ago in 2014Q2 (-11,019, or -40.8%). In other words, Wyoming's mining sector lost four out of every 10 jobs over the last 10 years.
Wyoming's mining sector (NAICS 21) is made up of three subsectors (see Table 4): oil & gas extraction (NAICS 211); mining, except oil & gas (NAICS 212); and support activities for mining (NAICS 213). All three subsectors lost jobs from 2023Q2 to 2024Q2.
Mining, except oil & gas (which includes coal mining) saw the greatest job losses (many due to non-economic code changes; -641, or -8.3%). Support activities for mining lost 421 jobs (-6.0%), while oil & gas extraction remained largely unchanged (-5, or -0.2%).
Mining had $404.1 million in total wages in 2024Q2, down by $23.3 million (-5.4%) over the year. Mining accounted for 5.7% of all jobs and 9.6% of the state's total wages.
Construction (NAICS 23)
Wyoming's construction sector has seen steady over-the-year growth in jobs and total wages since the end of the most recent economic downturn (see Figure 6 and Figure 7). Over the year, average monthly employment in construction increased by 1,090 jobs (4.9%) and total wages grew by $32.6 million (9.0%).
Construction (NAICS 23) comprises three subsectors: construction of buildings (NAICS 236), heavy & civil engineering construction (NAICS 237), and specialty trade contractors (NAICS 238).
The construction of buildings subsector added 235 (5.1%) and $7.7 million in total wages (see Table 5). Within this subsector, the greatest job growth was seen in nonresidential building construction (202, or 16.6%). Residential building construction added 34 jobs, an increase of 1.0%.
Heavy & civil engineering construction saw substantial growth, adding 832 jobs (15.1%) and $21.7 million (20.7%) in total wages (see Table 6). The majority of this job growth occurred in utility system construction, particularly oil & gas pipeline construction (267, or 13.5%) and power & communication system construction (185, or 16.3%). In addition, noticeable job gains also were seen in highway, street, & bridge construction (116, or 7.4%) and other heavy construction (171, or 51.3%).
Finally, the specialty trade contractors subsector added 23 jobs (0.2%) and $3.1 million (1.7%) in total wages. As shown in Table 7, specialty trade contractors is broken out into dozens of detailed industries. Job growth in specialty trade contractors was driven by building finishing contractors, specifically nonresidential painting contractors (55, or 55.7%) and nonresidential drywall contractors (37, or 42.9%).
Overall, Wyoming's construction sector accounted for 8.3% of all jobs and 9.4% of the state's total wages.
Figure 8 shows employment trends for the three construction subsectors over the last 10 years by using four-quarter moving averages. Construction of buildings makes up the smallest portion of jobs in construction, but has seen consistent growth since the end of the most recent economic downturn. Heavy & civil engineering construction adds jobs during large scale projects, such as oil pipelines, and then decreases once those projects are completed. This subsector saw substantial growth in 2018 and 2019 when several projects were ongoing, before decreasing and then remaining relatively flat. Finally, specialty trade contractors represents the largest share of jobs in construction. Employment in this subsector consistently decreased from 2015 to 2018 and then increased slightly. Since 2021, this subsector also has seen consistent job growth.
County
Over-the-year job growth occurred in 12 of Wyoming's 23 counties, while job losses were seen in 11 (see Table 8). Laramie County added the greatest number of jobs (547, or 1.1%), followed by Sheridan (343, or 2.4%), Teton (317, or 1.4%), Natrona (307, or 0.8%), and Lincoln (303, or 4.2%) counties. The greatest over-the-year decreases in employment were seen in Campbell (-193, or -0.8%), Goshen (-163, or -3.9%), Sweetwater (-135, or -0.6%), Hot Springs (-79, or -3.9%), and Uinta (-72, or -0.9%) counties.
The counties with the greatest over-the-year growth in total wages were Teton ($52.7 million, or 12.3%), Laramie ($38.7 million, or 5.8%), and Natrona ($31.9 million, or 5.7%). Declines in total wages were seen in Campbell (-$5.9 million, or -1.5%), Sublette (-$3.8 million, or -6.2%), and Hot Springs (-$0.6 million, or -2.6%) counties.
Teton County had the highest average weekly wage at $1,592, due in part to high average weekly wages in industries such as administrative & waste services ($4,696) and finance & insurance ($4,033; Research & Planning, 2024). Many of the other counties with the highest weekly wages were those with greater concentrations of high-paying mining jobs, such as Sweetwater ($1,311), Converse ($1,262), Campbell ($1,217), Lincoln ($1,173), and Sublette ($1,156).
Where is the Job Growth?
Table 9 shows the 20 subsectors that had the greatest over-the-year job gains in 2024Q2 and the counties in which they were found. For example, the greatest job growth was seen in accommodation in Park County (267 new jobs, or 19.5%) and amusements, gambling, & recreation in Teton County (250, or 38.4%). These subsectors are both found in leisure & hospitality. Other leisure & hospitality subsectors included in this list were food services & drinking places in Teton County (86, or 3.9%) and amusements, gambling, & recreation in Natrona County (77, or 13.0%).
Construction projects around the state made up a large proportion of the industry subsectors presented in Table 9. The greatest employment gains included heavy & civil engineering construction in Natrona County (248, or 36.9%) and specialty trade contractors in Teton County (171, or 12.1%). Job growth in heavy & civil engineering construction was also found in Laramie (152, or 22.0%), Carbon (123, or 107.9%), and Converse (107, or 101.3%) counties.
Other areas of job growth around Wyoming included state government educational services in Albany County (193, or 5.5%); professional, scientific, & technical services in Laramie County (119, or 5.4%); and administrative & support services in Teton County (114, or 10.2%).
5- and 10-Year Changes
As illustrated in figures throughout this article, Wyoming endured two periods of economic downturn over the last 10 years. Because of those challenges, job growth in Wyoming has lagged behind surrounding states. From 2014Q2 to 2024Q2, Wyoming lost 3,699 jobs, a decrease of 1.3% (see Table 10). In contrast, all of Wyoming's surrounding states experienced substantial job growth in that 10-year period, led by Colorado (486,375, or 20.2%), Utah (423,990, or 32.9%), and Idaho (210,623, or 32.4%).
Wyoming fared somewhat better looking at five-year employment changes from 2019Q2 to 2024Q2, as the state added 3,822 jobs (1.4%). However, Wyoming's job growth lagged behind all surrounding states. Idaho saw the greatest percentage increase (105,493, or 14.0%), followed by Utah (195,233, or 12.9%). In recent years, job growth in Idaho and Utah has been led by construction; health care & social assistance; and professional, scientific, & technical services (Moore, 2024b).
Substantial job losses in mining contributed to Wyoming job growth lagging behind surrounding states. As previously discussed, Wyoming mining employment decreased by more than 11,000 jobs (-40.8%) over the last 10 years, and by 4,908 jobs (-23.5%) over the last five (see Table 11). As a result, other industries that support Wyoming's mining sector have struggled as well. Most notably, wholesale trade, transportation, & utilities has not returned to employment levels seen five and 10 years ago.
Other industries, however, have seen substantial growth. Professional & business services led all industries in job growth; this sector added nearly 3,500 jobs (18.7%) over the last 10 years, and almost 2,800 (14.3%) over the last five. Other private industries that added jobs over the last 10 years include leisure & hospitality (3,048, or 8.6%), health care & social assistance (2,079, or 8.6%), and manufacturing (715, or 7.4%).
Not surprisingly, counties with a large presence of mining jobs struggled the most to return to pre-downturn levels. Sweetwater County lost 3,704 jobs (-15.1%) from 2014Q2 to 2024Q2 and 1,811 jobs (-8.0%) from 2019Q4 to 2024Q2 (see Table 12). Over the last five years, substantial job losses also were seen in Converse (-867, or -12.0%), Campbell (-449, or -1.8%), and Carbon (-413, or -5.9%) counties. Since 2019Q2, the greatest job gains were seen in Teton (2,147, or 10.2%), Laramie (1,328, or 2.8%), Albany (1,219, or 7.7%), and Sheridan (927, or 6.8%). Lincoln County had the greatest percentage increase in employment over the last five years (882, or 13.4%).
Conclusion
Second quarter 2024 marked the 13th consecutive quarter of over-the-year job growth for Wyoming, as the state added nearly 2,300 jobs and $212.0 million in total wages. Construction led all industries in job growth, with 1,090 new jobs (4.9%) and $32.6 million (9.0%) more in total wages. Other industries that added jobs over the year included health care & social assistance and other services, except public administration.
It should be noted that over-the-year job growth slowed in 2024Q2 compared to recent quarters. The over-the-year growth rate of 0.8% was the lowest the state has seen since 2021Q2, the end of the most recent economic downturn.
In addition, Wyoming continues to trail surrounding states in job growth over the last five and 10 years.
Quarterly employment and wage data for Wyoming from the QCEW are available online at https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/toc_202.htm. Data for third quarter 2024 will be released on February 7, 2025, with a feature article planned for the April 2025 issue of Wyoming Labor Force Trends.
References
Moore, M. (2019, May). Chapter 1: Introduction — Driven by demographics and downturns: Wyoming’s 2018 labor market at a glance. 2019 Wyoming Workforce Annual Report. Research & Planning, WY DWS. Retrieved June 12, 2024, from https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/annual-report/2019/2019_Annual_Report.pdf
Moore, M. (2024a, October). An update on Wyoming’s labor market – fall 2024. Presented to the Wyoming Workforce Development Council on September 12, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/presentations.htm
Moore, M. (2024b, September). 2024Q1 quarterly update: Wyoming jobs, total wages grow for 12th consecutive quarter. Wyoming Labor Force Trends, 61(10). Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/trends/1024/a1.htm
Research & Planning. (2024, November). Wyoming Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), second quarter 2024 (2024Q2) — Teton County. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/24Q2_QCEW/t24.htm
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