GILLETTE, Wyo. — Wyoming’s economy continued to grow in the first quarter of 2024 despite slowing drilling activities, according to the latest report from the state Economic Analysis Division.
According to the EAD, Wyoming employment increased by 1.2% over the previous year while the unemployment rate decreased to 2.8%. Marked growth was seen in construction, leisure and hospitality, private education, health services and professional business services.
Mining employment was down 1.4% and is currently 16.9% lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Other reductions were also recorded in financial activities, per the EAD.
Statewide, personal income increased by 4.3%, though the growth rate was lower than in the previous quarter. Total earnings increased by 4.5% annually while personal transfer receipts were up 3.5%, according to the EAD.
Earnings were up by 16.7% in the construction industry while increases were also recorded in information as well as leisure and hospitality. Professional and business services’ earnings were down by 10.7%, per the EAD.
Home prices remained elevated, which the EAD attributed to purchases made when interest rates were at record lows, making homeowners reluctant to sell their properties. With low available inventory, the overall housing market remains overpriced.
“With about four-decade low affordability, the anemic demand has resulted in the slowest existing home sales since the financial crisis of 2008,” EAD says. “Though the overheated valuation will exert downward pressure, house prices will probably remain relatively stable because of supply constraints.”
The price for a single-family home in Wyoming increased by more than 4%, per the EAD, which recorded a 44.4% increase in single-family building permits for new construction and a 165.6% increase in multi-family units.
Taxable sales were up to $5.4 billion, though the growth seen in the first quarter of 2024 was at its lowest point since 2021, with the EAD attributing the weak expansion to reduced mining activities and slow growth in retail sales.
Increases were recorded in the tourism sector with more visitors to the state’s national parks in 2024 compared to 2023, though visitor numbers were driven down last year due to a closure and limited admission following historic flooding in Yellowstone National Park, the EAD says, adding that lodging sales were up 12.7%.
Farm earnings were up 6.5% over the previous quarter and 8.8% higher than the prior year, which the EAD says could be attributed to potent livestock prices. Farmers saw a heightened index of prices, which increased to 137.7 in the first quarter, an increase of 9.9% than the previous year.
Wyoming’s economic performance in the first quarter of 2024 saw $126.8 million distributed to the state general fund, an increase of 75.9% including income from the Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund and state agency pooled income accounts, per the EAD.
Mineral severance taxes generated 11.3% less than the previous quarter and 42.8% less than the previous year, the second-smallest since the third quarter of 2021, reflecting the pullback of natural gas prices and the steeper decline in coal production.
