Sales tax collections from almost every sector of Wyoming’s economy declined in January from figures one year ago, but taxes generated by one sector more than doubled in the year, according to state figures.
The state’s Economic Analysis Division, in its monthly report “Wyoming Insight,” said sales and use taxes generated by the state’s education, health and “other” economic segment increased by almost $3.2 million in January over January 2020, an increase of almost 115%.
The increase was one piece of good news in a largely negative report on sales tax collections.
The report said collections from the mining industry, which includes oil and gas drilling, fell by $5.6 million in January from 2020, a decline of 54%.
The state’s leisure and hospitality industry saw its tax collections drop by 10.8%, almost $600,000, from January 2020.
Also dropping were collections from the construction, manufacturing, transportation, information and financial activities sectors.
However, the state’s wholesale trade sector saw its tax collections grow by 72.8% over 2020, almost $3.9 million.
Total sales and use collections in the state increased by $400,000 in January over January 2020, the report said, but the amount generated by some counties dropped significantly during the one-year period.
Campbell County collections, as an example, dropped by almost $1.9 million, 18.3 percent, while collections in Sublette County fell by $805,000, a drop of 42.6% from 2020.
However, some counties saw increased tax collections, such as Carbon County, where tax collections grew by almost 168% — $3.1 million — during the year. Carbon County is home to a significant wind energy project now being built.
The report also looked at the state’s unemployment rate, which increased from 3.7% in December 2019 to 4.8% in December 2020.
The report said the state’s mining industry saw the largest decline in jobs, 5,900, about 28.4%, from December 2019 to 2020.
The state’s leisure and hospitality industry and state and local governments also saw cuts in employment, with each sector losing 2,800 jobs over the year.
However, the retail trade sector added 2,300 jobs during the year and the construction industry added 1,000.
