Wyoming Jobless Rate Goes Up Slightly In July
Wyoming's unemployment rate increased slightly in July, going from 3.7 percent in June to 3.8 percent.
David Bullard, a Senior Economist with the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services Research and Planning Division, said Tuesday the increase is too small to be statistically significant.
The state's jobless rate last month was down from the July 2017 Wyoming unemployment rate of 4.0 percent.
The state's biggest energy-producing counties tended to see sizable declines in unemployment in a year-over-year comparison, including Campbell County (down from 4.6 percent to 4.1 percent), Natrona County (from 4.8 percent to 4.4 percent), and Sweetwater County (4.4 percent to 4.1 percent). But unemployment increased in 15 Wyoming counties between July 2017 and last month, while it decreased or remained the same in 8 counties.
But the size of the state's labor force fell by 5,984 people (-2.0 percent) in a year over year comparison, which Bullard said suggests people are either moving to other states or giving up looking for work.
He said part of the reason for the shrinking Wyoming workforce could be the fact that the economies of several states surrounding Wyoming are doing quite well, possibly luring people to move to those states from Wyoming.
Bullard characterized the overall report as ''mixed news" for Wyoming.
You can see the full July 2018 unemployment report here.