Wyoming’s economy continues to show signs of steady—if cautious—forward motion as the state works through a mix of growth, headwinds, and sector-by-sector shifts.

During the third quarter, job growth held to a familiar, modest pace. Total employment was up 0.4 percent compared to a year earlier, translating to about 1,300 additional jobs statewide. While that growth won’t set records, it reflects a labor market that remains resilient in an uneven economic climate.

Several sectors helped carry that momentum. Transportation, warehousing, and utilities posted the strongest gains, growing nearly 2 percent over the year. Government employment—including public higher education, K–12 schools, and local hospitals—added about 500 jobs, while private education and health services contributed another 400. Together, those gains helped offset continued losses in mining, which contracted by nearly 4 percent.

Even with that decline, Wyoming’s unemployment rate remained low at 3.3 percent in the third quarter—well below the national average of 4.3 percent. Dr. Wenlin Liu, chief economist with the Wyoming Division of Economic Analysis, said the numbers reflect a labor market that’s holding its ground. “Despite a contraction in the mining industry, the state’s labor market continued to demonstrate resilience, characterized by a low unemployment rate and modest employment growth,” Liu said.

That resilience, however, hasn’t carried over evenly into consumer activity. Total taxable sales dipped 0.2 percent compared to the same quarter last year, marking the sixth straight quarter of year-over-year decline. The biggest drags came from wholesale trade and mining. Wholesale trade fell more than 33 percent, largely reflecting a slowdown in wind power projects, while mining sales dropped over 20 percent, driven in part by tax refunds issued back to businesses.

Tourism, on the other hand, offered a bright spot. Even as international travel declined nationwide, Wyoming’s national parks continued to draw crowds. Grand Teton National Park set a new record for recreation visits during the third quarter, and Yellowstone National Park logged its third-highest visitation on record. Those numbers provided a welcome boost to local economies that rely heavily on visitor spending.

Housing remains one of the more complicated stories. Across the country, high mortgage rates and elevated home prices have kept existing-home sales near their slowest pace since the 2008 financial crisis. Inventory, which had been a major obstacle for buyers, has improved—climbing more than 15 percent year-over-year—but affordability remains a challenge. In Wyoming, single-family home prices continued to edge higher, rising 1.2 percent compared to last year. That increase was slower than the national pace, which cooled to a 2.2 percent annual gain.

Energy revenues told a more nuanced story. Mineral severance tax collections in the third quarter were up slightly—about 0.6 percent from a year ago. Strong demand from AI-related data centers and record liquefied natural gas exports pushed natural gas prices higher, helping to offset a significant drop in oil prices. The net result was a modest gain in revenue rather than a sharper decline.

State finances also benefited from higher investment returns. Thanks to a larger investment corpus, income distributed to the state’s general fund reached $118.8 million in the third quarter—up 12.5 percent from the same period last year and the highest total ever recorded for a third quarter.

At the local level, the November 2025 Cheyenne Economic Indicators report painted a similarly mixed but generally positive picture for Laramie County. The Cheyenne Economic Health Index rose to 108.1 in September, up from 107.3 a year earlier, and has increased year-over-year in five of the past six months. Non-farm payrolls reached 49,000 jobs, up about 200 from last year, while the county’s unemployment rate ticked slightly higher to 3.0 percent.

Sales tax collections told a stronger story locally than statewide. Laramie County collected $13.6 million in 4 percent sales and use tax revenue in September—an 11.9 percent increase over last year. Meanwhile, the average home value in the county rose 2.9 percent year-over-year.

Taken together, the data suggest an economy that’s neither surging nor stalling. Wyoming continues to lean on steady employment, strong tourism, and solid investment income, while navigating softer consumer spending, housing affordability challenges, and ongoing shifts in the energy sector. It’s a familiar balancing act—one that shows progress, even if it’s coming a little slower than some might hope.