Unemployment Down in Most of Wyoming
Written by Andrew-Rossi on August 19, 2019
In recent months, Wyoming’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has been trending slightly downward and job growth appears to be increasing in most counties.
A Wyoming Department of Workforce Services report, which focuses on changes in the number of jobs between fourth quarter 2017 and fourth quarter 2018, is a big-picture look at Wyoming’s economy through the lens of unemployment filings by businesses.
While much of the job growth statewide was seen in the construction sector, professional and businesses services, and manufacturing, job losses occurred in local government and retail trade. Employment grew in 17 counties and declined in six counties, and total payroll increased in 20 counties and decreased in three counties.
Bighorn County saw very little change, a slight decline of .2 percent in number of jobs and .3 percent in wages, and Park County saw a slight increase of .2 percent in number of jobs, but 4.6 percent increases in wages.
On the other hand, Washakie County stood out as one of the counties in which the economy was seen on the decline. From fourth quarter 2017 to fourth quarter 2018, employment fell by 81 jobs, or 2.2%, and total payroll decreased by $2.4 million – that’s almost a 6% decline. Job losses were seen in manufacturing, local government, and other services.
