Wyoming lost nearly 8,700 jobs from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, according to a new report from the state’s Economic Analysis Division. Of those, about 5,500 were in the mining and logging industries, and another 1,370 were in the construction industry.
Wenlin Liu, the chief economist for the state Economic Analysis Division, said the last time the state unemployment rate was higher than the country’s was during the Great Recession.
“The largest factor is the mineral extraction industry,” he said.
“Due to the reduction in energy activities caused by the dramatic downturn of both oil and natural gas prices, sales of equipment, supplies and services, the mining sector experienced a year-over-year contraction of 55.1 percent for the first quarter of 2016,” the report said.
The report went on to say the decline is “the steepest drop ever in Wyoming’s history.” The contraction in mineral extraction translates into dramatic drops in sales tax collections.
Total taxable sales declined statewide by 24.5 percent from the first quarter of 2015 to the same period in 2016.
About a fifth of sales tax collections are from the minerals extraction industry, and counties most dependent on that industry had the worst declines.
The report said the $110 million in mineral severance taxes generated in the first quarter of 2016 was the lowest amount since the fourth quarter of 2002.
Personal income in Wyoming dropped 1.2 percent, while personal income nationwide increased 4.4 percent.
Permits for single-family home construction were down 17 percent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, but permits for multi-family housing doubled.
Liu said rising oil and gas prices, although slow, point toward an improvement in the economy sometime in the future.
“The worst is either behind us or approaching,” he said.
By Matt Murphy, Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Online extra
To see a copy of the Economic Analysis Division’s “Economic Summary: 1Q 2016” report, read this story online at WyomingNews.com.
By the numbers
During the period from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016:
* 8,680 total jobs were lost in Wyoming.
* 5,490 of those jobs were in the mining and logging industries.
* State taxable sales dropped 24.5 percent statewide.
