Wyoming Mining Industry Continues Losing Jobs
Get our free mobile app
The Wyoming Economic Analysis Division released a report for the month of April, showing jobs in the mining sector lost the most compared to all other industries.
The mining sector lost 25.3% of its employment, or 4,900 jobs, year over year in March 2021 compared to March 2020.
Dylan Bainer, Principal Economist for the Economic Analysis Division in the Department of Administration and Information, said the large drop in airline travel due to COVID-19 is a major factor in the decrease.
Bainer said that the mining industry has been losing jobs for a long time, as April marks the 15th consecutive month of job losses, with January and February of 2020 each losing 600 jobs year over year compared to 2019, but that the pandemic has exacerbated those job losses.
Oil and gas facilities managed by the BLM Pinedale Field Office (H/t Bryan Nealy, BLM Wyoming/Flickr, Creative Commons)
The state economy recovered slightly from the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2020, but the labor market remained disconcerting moving into 2021, the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division (EAD) says.
According to a March 2021 EAD report, statewide unemployment decreased to 5.3 percent, approximately 1.5 percent lower than the national unemployment rate in the fourth and final quarter of 2020 (4Q2020).
Personal income across the state grew by 0.4 percent while the statewide retail and wholesale trade industries reported a combined increase in taxable sales of 20.3 percent thanks to robust activities in wind power projects, per the report.
Oil prices continue climb but Wyoming oil and gas jobs down 4,500 from Jan 2020 oilcity.news - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from oilcity.news Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Single Wyoming adult needs $10.24/hr to be self-sufficient; $15/hr not enough if raising a child By Brendan LaChance on January 27, 2021
(Shutterstock)
CASPER, Wyo. What does it cost to be self-sufficient in Wyoming? A single adult working full time needs to earn at least $10.24/hr.
That’s according to “The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Wyoming 2020” prepared by Dr. Diana M. Pearce for the Wyoming Women’s Foundation in Feb. 2020.
“A single adult needs to earn $10.24 per hour working full time to be able to meet his or her basic needs, which is nearly three dollars per hour more
than the federal minimum wage rate ($7.25 per hour in 2020) or double Wyoming’s minimum wage rate of $5.15 per hour,” the report states.
Wyoming sees rig count rise as oil climbs over $50/barrel but drilling ban could cost state billions By Brendan LaChance on January 21, 2021
(Shutterstock)
CASPER, Wyo. The price of crude oil has climbed above $50 per barrel and in the first week of Jan. 2021 reached the highest levels seen since Feb. 2020,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
As oil prices climbed in December, so did Wyoming’s rig count, according to a State of Wyoming Economic Analysis Division MACRO report released on Wednesday.
The report says that there were six oil rigs and one natural gas rigs operating in December 2020. While this was in increase from prior months, the rig count was down compared with the 21 oil rigs and six gas rigs operating in Dec. 2019.