Wyoming Personal Income Down

Wyoming was one of only two states not to see an increase in personal income over the first quarter of 2016 compared to the last three months of 2015.

That's according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis [BEA], which says personal income in the cowboy state declined by 0.3 percent in January, February and March.

The other state not seeing an increase was North Dakota [-1.3 percent], which like Wyoming has been hurt by low energy prices.

But the Rocky Mountain Region, which includes Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Utah as well as Wyoming saw an overall growth rate of 1 percent, paced by Utah's 1.3 percent figure.

Senior Wyoming State Economist Jim Robinson says Wyoming's decline at least seems to be slowing down compared to the final quarter of 2015, when personal income dropped by 1.2 percent.

He says a first quarter decline of 7.3 percent, or $238 million, in mining industry earnings was the driving factor in the overall drop in personal income.

Construction industry earnings were also down by 1.3 percent.

Perhaps surprisingly, 15 of the 24 industries included in the BEA Wyoming survey actually saw growth during the quarter. But he says the bad news in the mining sector mostly overshadowed those gains, showing how important that sector of the economy is to Wyoming.