A Wells Fargo report recently showed that the Pennsylvania economy is continuing to build momentum in recent years with significant growth in the natural gas industry leading the way.

Wells Fargo’s Pennsylvania 2019 Midyear Outlook reported a 2.9 percent increase in the commonwealth’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of the year, which is on par with the national average.  In particular, the natural gas industry is helping to drive the upturn in Pennsylvania’s economy. First-quarter 2019 real GDP growth in the state was led by an 18.4 percent year-over-year surge in the mining, oil and gas industry.

“Even with some quarterly swings lately, the importance of the natural gas industry to the state economy cannot be overstated,” report authors and economists Mark Vitner and Charles Dougherty wrote.

The increased natural gas production in the state has helped drive the need for more robust energy infrastructure, leading to a significant uptick in construction jobs.

Williams has made significant investments in Pennsylvania’s energy infrastructure, most recently placing into service its approximately $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise expansion in October 2018 which supported thousands of construction jobs.

Williams’ Leidy South project is another planned investment in Pennsylvania energy infrastructure. The $531 million project is estimated to generate $100 million in economic activity within Pennsylvania, supporting 750 jobs. The project has a target in-service of Dec. 1, 2021.