Wyoming losing people because of energy downturn
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – More people are leaving Wyoming than are coming to the state because of the thousands of jobs being lost in the fossil fuels extraction industry.
State economist Wenlin Liu (LEW) says he doesn’t see the trend reversing until oil and gas prices rebound.
His colleague, state economist Jim Robinson, tells the Wyoming Tribune Eagle (http://tinyurl.com/zjhlxmc) previous gains were slashed as oil and gas employment dropped in the last three months of the year because of a drop in oil and gas prices over the last year.
Thousands of workers left to seek work elsewhere.
Between July 2013 and July 2014, nearly 2,200 more people left Wyoming than moved into the state. That outmigration continued between July 2014 and July 2015 with a net loss of an additional 1,200 people.
