Unemployment down slightly

The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services (DWS) released its October report on unemployment claims recently, placing Wyoming unemployment at 4.1 percent, putting it at the same percentage as September and down from October 2017, which saw an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent. According to the DWS, the highest unemployment rates were reported in Fremont County, at 4.4 percent, and Natrona County, at 4.2 percent.

Carbon County, which reported 3.7 percent unemployment, sat in the middle of the road with only 263 claiming unemployment. Compared to data from the year before, unemployment declined by .4 percent or 18 people. Meanwhile, Carbon County boasted an employment number of 7,515 in its October report. While this is down from the previous year, at 7,760, the labor force also decreased in Carbon County, from 8,041 in 2017 to 7,778 in 2018.

This is a similar trend seen across most of the state as it was reported by the DWS that the labor force in Wyoming decreased by nearly 9,000 between June 2017 and June 2018 — a decrease of three percent. Only two counties were able to see a sizeable increase in labor force numbers compared to the year before. Albany County went from 20,785 in October 2017 to 20,968 in October 2018 and Campbell County went from 22,781 to 22,819 in the same time period. Converse County saw a slight increase of 44 jobs between October 2017 and October 2018.

The report, on the whole, was positive as it reported that total nonfarm employment not seasonally adjusted and measured by place of work had increased 2.3 percent with a total of 6,400 jobs gained. This is despite the loss of total civilian labor force in the same time period which dropped by 2.3 percent from 292,348 to 285,519 individuals.