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Wyoming Labor Force Trends

October 2024 | Volume 61, No. 10


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2024 Q1 Quarterly Update: Wyoming Jobs, Total Wages Grow for 12th Consecutive Quarter

Article | Tables and Figures

by: Michael Moore, Research Supervisor


This article provides an overview of Wyoming’s employment and wages in first quarter 2024 at the county and industry levels, in order to identify over-the-year job growth. This also includes a detailed discussion on Wyoming's local government sector, in order to explain the types of industries, agencies, and activities that make up this ownership designation.


Wyoming added more than 3,400 jobs and $163.8 million in total wages over the year in first quarter 2024 (2024Q1; see Table 1). This marked the 12th consecutive quarter (or three years) of over-the-year job growth (see Figure 1). Average monthly employment was also about 4,500 jobs higher (1.7%) compared to 2019Q1 five years earlier.

This article looks at quarterly employment and wages at the county and industry levels for 2024Q1, in order to determine areas of job growth over the year. Also, this article provides a detailed discussion on local government in Wyoming in order to explain the entities and industries that are included in this ownership.

The data discussed in this article are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). Data from 2024Q1 are available at https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/24Q1_QCEW/toc.htm.

Introduction

Wyoming’s average monthly employment in 2024Q1 was 273,209, an increase of 3,429 jobs (1.3%) compared to 2023Q1 (see Table 2). The state had $4.2 billion in total wages, up $163.8 million (4.1%) over the year. Wyoming's average weekly wage increased from $1,145 to $1,177 ($32, or 2.8%).

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, 2024Q1 marked the 12th consecutive quarter of over-the-year growth in employment and wages in Wyoming. In addition, 2024Q1 was also the fifth consecutive quarter during which Wyoming surpassed pre-pandemic 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 article primarily discusses statewide employment and wages at the sector (or two-digit NAICS) level.

As shown in Table 3, several industries added jobs and total wages over the year. Substantial job growth was seen in construction (1,496, or 7.6%), state government (569, or 4.8%), health care & social assistance (520, or 2.0%), and professional & business services (422, or 2.1%). Job losses were also seen in several industries, such as leisure & hospitality (-341, or -1.0%), financial activities (-268, or -2.3%), information (-141, or -4.4%), and wholesale trade, transportation, warehousing, & utilities (-128, or -0.6%).

It is worth noting that over-the-year changes in employment and wages 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. More discussion on the entities that make up local government is provided in this article.

Local government (including schools and hospitals) accounted for the largest share (17.2%) of Wyoming's total employment in 2024Q1, followed by leisure & hospitality (12.8%), retail trade (10.8%), private health care & social assistance (9.6%), and construction (7.7%). The mining sector (including oil & gas) contributed 5.9% of the state's total jobs.

Wyoming had $4.2 billion in total wages in 2024Q1, an over-the-year increase of $163.8 million, or 4.1%. The greatest over-the-year increases were seen in local government ($55.0 million, or 9.3%), construction ($44.9 million, or 14.9%), federal government ($18.8 million, or 12.5%), state government ($18.8 million, or 9.8%), and private health care & social assistance ($16.1 million, or 5.1%).

Local government contributed the greatest share (15.5%) of all wages, followed by professional & business services (10.8%); mining, including oil & gas (10.6%); and wholesale trade, transportation, & utilities (9.6%).

Wyoming's average weekly wage in 2024Q1 was $1,177 (see Figure 3). The highest wages were seen in mining, including oil & gas ($2,117); federal government ($1,682); financial activities ($1,671); professional & business services ($1,656); and information ($1,537).

County

Over-the-year job growth occurred in 16 of Wyoming's 23 counties (see Table 4). Laramie County added the greatest number of jobs (834, or 1.8%), followed by Natrona (462, or 1.2%), Sheridan (335, or 2.5%), Sweetwater (260, or 1.3%), and Teton (260, or 1.2%) counties. The counties that lost jobs over the year included Uinta (-84, or -1.0%), Hot Springs (-72, or -3.7%), Goshen (-63, or -1.5%), and Johnson (-23, or -0.7%) counties.

The counties with the greatest over-the-year growth in total wages were Laramie ($49.4 million, or 7.4%), Natrona ($33.4 million, or 6.0%), Sheridan ($18.3 million, or 10.2%), and Converse ($10.0 million, or 10.7%) counties.

Teton County had the highest average weekly wage in 2023Q4 ($1,625), followed by Sweetwater ($1,320), Campbell ($1,308), Sublette ($1,291), and Converse ($1,281) counties.

Local Government Employment and Wages

Local government comprises employment and wages in Wyoming's counties, cities, towns, school districts, community colleges, tribal governments, and other municipalities. In 2024, local government included 623 units (employers), 47,116 jobs, more than $646 million in total wages, and had an average weekly wage of $1,055. As shown in Table 5, local government includes obvious industries such as public administration, educational services, utilities, and health care & social assistance. Other industries found within local government include transportation & warehousing, retail trade, wholesale trade, and more. It should be noted that Table 5 does not contain a full list of all industries within local government, as employment and wages in some industries were non-discloseable for confidentiality reasons.

Within local government, the greatest number of jobs in 2024Q1 were found in educational services, which includes local school districts (23,481); public administration (11,402); and health care & social assistance (9,154).

In 2024Q1, local government accounted for 17.2% of all jobs in Wyoming and contributed 15.5% of the state's total wages. Generally speaking, local government makes up a greater proportion of total employment in Wyoming's least populous counties, such as Niobrara (40.4%), Big Horn (30.0%), Converse (29.6%), and Weston (27.9%) counties (see Table 6). The exception to this is Fremont County, where local government accounted for 30.4% of the county's total employment of 15,187. This is due in large part to the presence of the Wind River Reservation and jobs within tribal governments and other local government entities.

Within the last 10 years, local government employment in Wyoming peaked in early 2016 before declining consistently the next several years (see Figure 4). Local government lost jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic and associated economic downturn, but has seen continued over-the-year job and wage growth for the last seven quarters (see Figure 5). Again, growth in local government in 2024Q1 was due in part to non-economic code changes and the associated reclassification of businesses' industries and ownership.

Conclusion

First quarter 2024 marked the 12th consecutive quarter of over-the-year job growth for Wyoming, as the state added more than 3,400 jobs and $163.8 million in total wages. Job growth continued in construction, state government, health care & social assistance, and professional & business services. However, these gains were partially offset by job losses in several industries, such as leisure & hospitality, financial activities, information, and wholesale trade, transportation, warehousing, & utilities.

First quarter 2024 was also the fifth consecutive quarter in which Wyoming returned to pre-pandemic employment levels from 2019. However, Wyoming continues to lag behind its neighboring states in recovering from pandemic job losses (see Figure 6). As previously mentioned, Wyoming added approximately 4,500 new jobs from 2019Q1 to 2024Q1, an increase of 1.7%. However, this was much lower than surrounding states like Idaho (14.2%), Utah (13.3%), and Montana (9.2%).

While Wyoming has seen continued job growth in industries such as professional & business services, retail trade, and leisure & hospitality, employment in the state's key mining industry remains substantially lower compared to pre-pandemic levels (Research & Planning, 2024). From 2019Q1 to 2024Q1, employment in mining fell from 20,997 to 16,143, a loss of nearly 5,000 jobs (-23.1%).

In contrast, job growth in Idaho was found in industries such as construction, health care & social assistance, and professional, scientific, & technical services (Moore, 2024). Utah saw a substantial increase in those same industries, along with job growth in manufacturing and accommodation & food services.

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 second quarter 2024 will be released on November 8, 2024, with a feature article planned for the January 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 September 18, 2024, from https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/annual-report/2019/2019_Annual_Report.pdf

Moore, M. (2024, September). An update on Wyoming’s labor market – fall 2024. Presented to the Wyoming Workforce Development Council September 12, 2024. Research & Planning, WY DWS. Retrieved September 18, 2024, from https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/presentations.htm

Research & Planning. (2024, August). Wyoming QCEW summary statistics by industry, 2001-2024: Mining, including oil & gas. Retrieved September 18, 2024, from https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/QCEW_OTY/mining_OTY.htm