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© Copyright 1997 by the Wyoming Department of Employment, Research & Planning

The third quarter total payroll for Wyoming was $1,233,647,606, up 1.3 percent from the second quarter and up 3.5 percent from the previous year (see Table 1); however, part of this increase is due mainly to a large one- time bonus in a firm in the Real Estate industry. This causes an increase in total payroll, but not a permanent change in consumption by the consumer. The one-time bonus may be partially responsible for the Real Estate industry having the largest change in Average Weekly Wage (AWW) at 11 percent. Real Estate had an increase in total payroll of $5,505,016, but only added 26 jobs over the previous year. Manufacturing had the largest increase statewide from the previous year in employment and payroll (12.1% and 22.9%, respectively). A major portion of this was due to a large firm changing its primary industrial activity, causing the percentage to be artificially inflated. The Agriculture and Services industries also had substantial increases in average monthly employment and payroll statewide for the third quarter. Typically, the third quarter has the highest average monthly employment (see Table 2), due to seasonal factors.

Federal Government again had a decrease of 2.5 percent in employment but a 3.3 percent increase in weekly wages. This is due to an employment cut at the lower end of the pay scale that caused employment to drop, and the average wage to increase substantially. State Government average weekly wages had the largest decrease (1.0%), without adjusting for inflation. Transportation and Mining again continued to decline in average monthly employment and total payroll, with Wholesale Trade seeing a decline in employment, too.

Sweetwater County had the largest percent decrease in employment (4.0%--see Table 3), consistent with the Mining industry decline statewide (see Table 1). Natrona, Carbon, Goshen, Weston, and Crook Counties' employment levels continued to diminish. Weston, Carbon, and Platte Counties also had a large percentage decline in total payrolls. AWW decreased substantially in Weston, Niobrara, and Platte Counties, although Platte County had the largest percentage decrease (3.8%).

Hot Springs had the largest percentage increase over the year in employment (5.8%). Campbell County's economy continued to grow with an increase in employment of 509 jobs and a total payroll increase of $7,393,978 (6.7%), while Big Horn, Hot Springs, and Sublette Counties had the largest percentage increases of 15.8, 10.5, and 9.8 percent, respectively. Average Weekly Wages increased substantially in Big Horn and Sublette Counties, corresponding with the total payroll increases. Crook County had a significant increase in AWW (5.8%), but employment levels dropped (1.0%).

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