Shortest recession in history may also be the most severe

The Wyoming Department of Administration & Information Economic Analysis Division has released the Economic Summary for the first quarter of 2020. This quarterly publication highlights the State’s economic conditions.

According to the report, after the severe downturn in 2015 and 2016, Wyoming’s economy rebounded with a year of strong growth from the fourth quarter of 2018 to the fourth quarter of 2019. However, the recovery already slowed down in the first quarter of 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Wyoming’s labor market and overall economic performance already slowed down even before the first COVID-19 landed on the state,” Dr. Wenlin Liu, Chief Economist with the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division said in a statement. “Oil and natural gas prices, as well as coal production dropped quite dramatically amid the downfall in global energy demand.”

Across the state, 13 out of 23 counties experienced increases in taxable sales, led by Niobrara’s 162.7%, followed by the 21.8% in Goshen. 

Sublette, Johnson, and Sweetwater counties suffered the largest declines of more than 30.0%, each, mostly reflecting a slowdown in conventional natural gas exploration.

“Taxable sales in the first quarter of 2020 experienced the first contraction in three years, and the amount of mineral severance taxes generated was the lowest since the second quarter of 2016,” Liu said.

The summary reports Wyoming experienced a total employment decrease of 0.4% – 1,090 jobs – compared to one year earlier, while the job growth rate for the U.S was still 1.2%. The state’s unemployment rate increased to 3.8%, slightly higher than the national average. 

Job declines occurred in about half of industrial sectors where the mining – including oil and gas extraction – lost the largest number of jobs, mainly due to the reduced drilling activities because of declining oil and natural gas prices. 

To view this report, click here.