Wyoming Employment Continued Growing in April 2022

More Wyomingites are on the job, as the state and most counties saw another month of steadily-declining unemployment from March to April 2022.

The Research & Planning section of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services reported that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 3.4% in March to 3.3% in April.

Wyoming’s unemployment rate has been trending downward since its peak of 8.6% in May 2020, and it is slightly lower than the current U.S. rate of 3.6%. From March to April, seasonally adjusted employment of Wyoming residents increased by 581 individuals (0.2%) as people returned to work.

From March to April, jobless rates fell slightly in most counties. However, Teton County was the exception. Its unemployment rate rose from 2.2% in March to 4.3% in April as the ski season ended.

Unemployment rates decreased from their year-ago levels in every county around the state.

County unemployment rates were elevated during 2021 because of the pandemic. The decreases in 2022 reflect a return to more normal levels.

The largest decreases in April 2022 occurred:

• Natrona (down from 6.8% to 4.4%)
• Converse (down from 5.5% to 3.2%)
• Uinta (down from 5.6% to 3.5%)
• Sweetwater (down from 6.1% to 4.1%)
• Sublette (down from 6.4% to 4.4%
• Campbell (down from 5.6% to 3.6%) counties.

In April 2022, the highest unemployment rates were found in Natrona County and Sublette County, both at 4.4%. Teton County followed them at 4.3% and Sweetwater County at 4.1%.

The lowest unemployment rates were reported in Niobrara County at 2.0% and Goshen County at 2.4%.

Courtesy WY Department of Workforce Services

Park County’s employment rose in April – both over March of this year and April of last year.

In April 2021, Park County’s unemployment was 3.5%. That’s down from 3.9% in March 2022 and 4.5% in April 2021.

Total nonfarm employment in Wyoming (not seasonally adjusted and measured by place of work) rose from 272,300 in April 2021 to 280,800 in April 2022, an increase of 8,500 jobs (3.1%).

Employment was unusually low in 2021 because of economic disruptions related to the pandemic.

Research & Planning has scheduled the May unemployment news release for June 20, 2022