Southwest RegionAn Illustrated History of Employment (1990 & 1994)

Southwest Region

Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater, Teton & Uinta Counties

The four largest industries in the Southwest Region during 1994 were Services (10,171 covered workers), Retail Trade (9,602), Local Government (7,274) and Mining (6,709). Two industries had significant decreases in the proportion of overall employment from 1990 to 1994: Manufacturing (4.2 to 3.4%) and Mining (15.7 to 14.1%), both in the Goods-Producing sector. Construction, Retail Trade and Services grew in the relative share of employment during this five-year period (from 7.8 to 9.1%, from 19.6 to 20.2% and from 19.8 to 21.4%, respectively), with Retail Trade and Services being lower wage industries.

Lincoln County’s four largest industries by covered employment in 1994 were: Retail Trade, Local Government, Mining and Services. While Services was the fourth largest industry in the county, it accounts for only 9.7 percent of the employment compared with 20.3 percent statewide. Manufacturing makes up nearly double the state proportion in Lincoln County (9.4% versus 4.8%, respectively), but dropped from the top four industries in the county. From 1990 to 1994, four industries had considerable drops in relative shares of employment: Mining (13.7 to 12.4%), Manufacturing (11.9 to 9.4%), Transportation & Public Utilities (10.3 to 8.8%) and Federal Government (3.4 to 2.8%). Industries that grew in Lincoln County, from smallest to largest growth, consisted of: Local Government, Construction, Services and Retail Trade.

The top four industries of Sublette County mirrored those of Wyoming: Services (15.2%), Retail Trade (17.5%), Local Government (20.6%) and Mining (15.4%). Sublette County has fewer employees compared with other counties; this is evidenced by the higher proportions of employment within Local Government. All industries in Sublette County declined in relative shares of employment, except Retail Trade (15.1 to 17.5%), Mining (14.7 to 15.4%), Agriculture (2.2 to 4.3%) and Local Government (20.1 to 20.6%).

Employment and high wages were predominant in Sweetwater County, which had almost a third of all the Mining employment in Wyoming in 1994 (25.1% of the county's covered workforce) and a small percentage of employment in State Government (1.4%). Sweetwater County also had only 14.0 percent employment in the Services industry compared with 20.3 percent statewide. Sweetwater County decreased in relative shares in Mining (26.2 to 25.1%) and Manufacturing (3.8 to 3.2%); the Southwest Region decreased in these industries as well from 1990 to 1994. Other industries which decreased in relative shares in Sweetwater County during this time period were Transportation & Public Utilities (8.6 to 8.0%) and Local Government (17.3 to 16.3%). The only industries that grew in Sweetwater County were Services (12.4 to 14.0%) and Construction (6.4 to 8.3%).

Teton County was predominantly Services-oriented in 1994 with about 12 percent of all the Services employment in Wyoming (a relative share of 38.7 percent of the county's covered employment). Teton County had nearly twice the employment in Construction compared with state percentages and had negligible State Government and Mining employment. The county had three decreasing industries in relative shares from 1990 to 1994: Retail Trade (26.0 to 24.8%), Wholesale Trade (1.6 to 1.1%) and Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate (4.4 to 3.7%). These were small decreases compared with other counties in the state. The largest growing industry in Teton County during the five-year period was Local Government, which increased from 8.2 to 9.2 percent of the covered workforce.

Uinta County not only mirrored Wyoming in relative shares in the four major industries, but also reflected the Southwest Region from 1990 to 1994 in its declining industries: Manufacturing (4.0 to 2.4%) and Mining (13.1 to 10.5%). The four major industries for Uinta County showed slight increases in employment: Retail Trade (19.7 to 20.9%), Services (19.5 to 20.1%), Local Government (17.9 to 18.5%) and Construction (6.2 to 7.6%).

Southwest Region Employment by Industry: 1990 Southwest Region Employment by Industry: 1994

Image Map of Southwest Region

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