By some measures, Cheyenne's economy is at a record-high level

May 22—CHEYENNE — It's official: By at least one state government measure, the local economy has completely rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, in the Cheyenne geographic area, the economy has reached a record level.

New statistics from the Economic Analysis Division of the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information help to tell the story. And anecdotal reports from area businesses continue to show strength, too.

The state-overseen Cheyenne Economic Health Index shows the value of 109.6 this past March "is the highest value the ChEHI has ever recorded since it began being measured in January of 2005." That is according to a Thursday report from the Economic Analysis Division.

The report's author, the division's principal economist, Dylan Bainer, said by phone Friday that the record level reflects several factors: Employment is "strong," with high sales and use tax collections, as well as home prices. Those numbers for Laramie County, as well as the unemployment rate, are what constitute the "ChEHI" overall economic statistic.

Jobs have come roaring back from the depths of the coronavirus-induced economic malaise. The unemployment rate here in March was 3.3%, lower than the year-earlier 4.7% and the statewide March 2022 rate of 3.7%. Put another way, per the new report, our county "has recovered all of the 4,000 jobs lost during the worst parts of the pandemic" in March and April of 2020.

All those workers need somewhere to live. As anyone in the market for a place to live can attest to, housing prices in our region have been through the roof (no pun intended). Although it's not good for the wallets of people who are currently looking for a property, Bainer noted, "it's good for homeowners, it's their biggest investment." He confirmed that this is also a record high, dating back to 2005, when these statistics began being recorded.

Laramie County's median home sales price was $350,000 in March, a stunning 17-percent increase from March of last year, the report showed. "This is the 43rd consecutive month of year-over-year increases in median home sales prices, reflecting the strong housing market" here.

Tres Amigos

Queried in recent days by the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, local businesses report financial strength. From bigger employers like Little America in Cheyenne and Taco John's, to a newer individual restaurant, business has generally been good.

One example is the Tres Amigos Mexican-food restaurant. It opened about 10 months ago, and even in the short time it has been operating, it reports that sales have been brisk.

As with other local employers, Tres Amigos has added workers to keep up with customer demand. "We've definitely had to add a couple of positions to help each other out, because it is busier," said Jonathan Iniguez, a co-owner. In total, it has about 20 staff, he said by phone Friday.

As Iniguez and his two friends and co-owners were planning to open, "I don't think we were expecting to be quite this busy," said the 30-year-old Cheyenne resident. "This is definitely busier than we thought we would be."

Asked why so many people are eating there, Iniguez said he believed it was the quality of its food and its ambience.

"We have been very fortunate," the restauranteur said. "We have stayed consistently busy every day."

Wyoming

Things in our state overall are not growing quite as gangbusters as they are in the Cheyenne area.

The good news is that the state's economy nonetheless is recovering from the pandemic's effects. It just has not fully recovered.

The Wyoming Economic Health Index was 107 this March. That was an increase from the same month a year earlier, when it was 102.6, and from March 2020, as the pandemic was starting to take hold, at 103.

Unlike Laramie County, Wyoming, as a whole, has not reached a record for this index. January 2015 was the state index's peak at 111.8, with both the energy and lodging industries doing well, Bainer said in an interview.

A big reason why the state has not fully recovered is the energy sector, its No. 1 industry. Bainer noted that Cheyenne has relatively fewer jobs in energy and mining, so our city has been less affected by the industry's previous pullback.

"The mining industry is the main reason total employment has not fully recovered, still down around 4,000 jobs relative to pre-COVID levels," Bainer wrote. That comprises many of the jobs that have not yet returned following the pandemic, he said by phone. "By March 2022, Wyoming recovered about 83% of the 26,000 jobs lost during the worst parts of the pandemic," read his report. "The total number of nonfarm payroll jobs in March 2022 was 284,600."

Energy

One area of strength for energy has been rising oil and natural gas prices, although this has also created pain at the gas pump, among other rising energy costs for consumers. Wyoming's collection of the 4% sales and use tax has been gaining, although it has not returned to its five-year average.

The AAA motorists club reports that in the state on Friday, buying a gallon of regular unleaded would cost you $4.29 on average, a record high.

The energy sector's economic situation is also illustrated by the number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the state. Each rig accounts for about 100 jobs in the state, noted Ryan McConnaughey, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming's vice president and director of communications.

As of this past Monday, there were about 20, according to a spokesperson for the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. That is up from fewer than a handful of rigs in both May 2020 and last May, she noted by phone on Friday. Just before the pandemic took hold in the U.S., Baker Hughes records show that in February 2020, the average weekly rig count in Wyoming was 22.

"We're seeing a slow, but steady increase, at least over the last couple of weeks" in both the oil sector in Wyoming and in the rig count, McConnaughey said by phone. "I think we'll see that trend continue in the near future, as long as we don't have any major disruption to the market."

Another possible reason for the lag in energy employment is that it is hard to hire workers these days. Petroleum Association of Wyoming "members are definitely looking for more employees and having some of the same struggles that others are in hiring people," McConnaughey said.

Jonathan Make is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's assistant managing editor and editor of the Wyoming Business Report. He can be reached at jmake@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3129. Follow him on Twitter @makejdm.