Wyoming jobs soar on mining, gas

The Associated Press

In the 1970s, it was coal mining. Then a boom in oil drilling.

Now, Wyoming’s deep and abundant natural gas fields are buoying the state’s economy, keeping unemployment low as people in other states struggle to find work and creating jobs at one of the fastest paces in the nation.

In the past year, Wyoming added 5,300 jobs to its economy, with many of those sprouted from its mining industry and drilling for natural gas, oil and coalbed methane, state economist Wenlin Liu said. Wyoming’s 2.2 percent annual job growth is one of the highest in the nation, with a 10 percent jump in mining jobs being the main contributor, Liu said. Job growth nationwide, meanwhile, remains stagnant and has dropped off sharply in some areas, according to the Wyoming Department of Employment’s Research & Planning Section. Wages are also suffering.

In Wyoming, miners and gas drillers are breathing easy.

Like their counterparts in the oil and gas industry, miners make more than double the average resident at $56,000 a year and nearly four times the pay of some industries, such as retail, which averages a $17,000 salary, Liu said.

According to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the largest potential for natural gas drilling lies in Carbon, Sublette and Sweetwater counties, which have reported the highest rig utilization rates in Wyoming the past two years.