Economic Growth Slows in 2002

Economic Growth Slows in 2002

by: Nancy Brennan, David Bullard, Valerie A. Davis, Brad Payne, Krista R. Shinkle, and Sherry Wen

Table 1 contains annual average data for the Current Population Survey (CPS) population, labor force, establishment jobs, unemployed individuals, and annual Unemployment Insurance (UI) recipients. The percentage changes for the period 2001 to 2002 indicate that job growth has slowed considerably and unemployment has increased in Wyoming. However, some slowing of Wyoming’s economy is expected as the nation is in a recession and energy prices have fallen. Between 2001 and 2002, the labor force is estimated to decrease 1.0 percent. The number of jobs worked will only rise 0.7 percent, compared to 2.5 percent in 2001. The number of unemployed persons is estimated to increase by 6.0 percent and an increase in the number of UI recipients is expected at 21.7 percent.

In first quarter 2002 Wyoming statewide covered employment grew by 4,068 jobs or 1.8 percent (see Table 2). However, by second quarter 2002, growth slipped to 0.9 percent. Total wages for first quarter increased 6.7 percent, while second quarter total wages showed a smaller increase of 4.7 percent over the year.

Figure 1 illustrates the shift in Wyoming’s economic condition. Following strong economic growth in Wyoming for the period 1997 through 2001, Wyoming is now experiencing a slowdown. Wyoming's employment-to-population ratio decreased from 69.5 percent in 2001 to 67.9 percent in 2002. While this ratio decreased, the unemployment rate increased from 3.9 percent in 2001 to 4.2 percent in 2002.

The linked map identifies which states and regions have experienced the greatest over-the-year changes in unemployment from October 2001 to October 2002. The states with the darkest shading indicate the largest unemployment increases. As a whole, the U.S. experienced little change in seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (5.4% in 2001 and 5.7% in 2002) for a difference of only 0.3 percentage points. Both the largest over-the-year increase (West Virginia) and decrease (Nevada) equaled 1.8 percentage points. Wyoming experienced a slight over-the-year increase, from 3.8 percent in October 2001 to 3.9 percent in October 2002.

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