Wyoming Jobless Rate Unchanged in June

A senior economist with the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services says the state jobless rate held steady in June at 4.1%, unchanged from the unemployment rate in May.

David Bullard says the unemployment rate went up in 15 counties in June compared to the May numbers. It went down in five counties and was unchanged in three.

Some of the largest increases in unemployment were seen in Albany County (from 2.6% to 3.3%), Goshen County (3.0% to 3.5%) and Laramie County (3.3% to 3.7%). Fremont County had the highest unemployment rate in the state in June at 5.1%, followed by Uinta County at 4.8%.

The continuing effect of low energy prices--and job losses in the oil and gas industries-kept the unemployment rate in Natrona and Sweetwater Counties at 4.7%, tied for the third highest jobless rate in the state. Natrona and Sweetwater Counties are especially dependent on the energy industries and have been hit hard by layoffs in oil and gas.

The jobless rate in Natrona County in June of this year is half a percentage point higher than it was in June of 2014, while in Sweetwater County the rate is up .04 compared to June of 2014..

The downturn in oil and gas is also largely to blame for the fact the state has lost 200 non-farm jobs over the past year. The oil and gas industries have lost a total of 3700 jobs over the past year.

While most of that number has been absorbed  by gains in other sectors, especially leisure and hospitality services (tourism), the new jobs generally aren't as high paying as the jobs lost in the energy sector.

While the overall loss of 200 jobs (-0.1%) isn't considered "statistically significant", the lost income is probably considerably higher. But even with the loss of jobs, the June 2015 unemployment rate in June of this year was .03 lower than the 4.4% state unemployment rate in June of 2015.

Since the economy actually lost jobs, the lower rate presumably is caused in part by people who left the state or who aren't showing up in the latest numbers for some other reason, such as no longer looking for work.