By Joshua Wolfson
Casper Star-Tribune
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

CASPER — Inflation rose in Wyoming over the past year at its highest rate since 1981, driven primarily by soaring transportation and food costs, a new state report shows.

Statewide inflation jumped 10.1% between June 2021 and June of this year, according to the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division report. To find a higher rate, you’d have to go back to the third quarter of 1981, when inflation rose 11.8% in Wyoming.

Rising costs here mirror increases nationally.

The U.S. inflation rate grew by 9.1% over the same 12-month period, prompting the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in an effort to combat the trend.

“Everyone in the U.S. is experiencing higher prices,” said Amy Bittner, principal economist for the state’s Economic Analysis Division. “I think our Wyoming information is reflecting that.”

Wyoming’s inflation rate has been steadily rising since 2021.

It hit 7.7% in June 2021 and 9.3% in December.

Transportation costs experienced the biggest increase in Wyoming, jumping 16.4% over the 12 months that ended in June.

That includes gas prices, which spiked earlier this year due to the Russian war in Ukraine and the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, when oil companies had difficult keeping up with returning demand for fuel.

However, gas prices have declined significantly since peaking in June.

Food costs, meanwhile, jumped 15.6% in Wyoming, followed by housing costs at 8.6%. The cost of recreation and personal care grew by 5.6%, while medical and apparel grew by 3.9% and 3.2% respectively.

The jump in inflation was felt nearly uniformly across Wyoming.

With the exception of the northwest, regional inflation rates were all between 10% and 10.5%, the report shows.

“Everybody, sadly, is in the same boat,” Bittner said. “We’re all experiencing high inflation, high consumer prices.”

The report also compared the cost of living across Wyoming’s 23 counties.

Not surprisingly, the cost of living in Teton County — the wealthiest county in the nation — was 65% higher than the state average.

Washakie County has the state’s lowest cost of living, at 85% of the Wyoming average.

It further showed that the state’s housing crunch is being felt unevenly.

The cost of an apartment jumped 27% in a year in the Kemmerer area, 19% in the Afton area and 12% in Albany and Carbon counties.

At the same time, it actually fell in Platte and Washakie counties.