Jobless rate lowest in state

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Despite experiencing a slight increase in unemployment from December to January, Weston County marked the lowest unemployment rate in the state, according to a March 8 report from the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services Research and Planning Division.
“The lowest unemployment rates in Wyoming were found in Weston County at 3.8%, Crook County at 4.0% and Teton County at 4.2%,” the report states. “Sublette County reported the highest unemployment rate at 8.3%. It was followed by Natrona County at 8.2%, Sweetwater County at 7.7%, Campbell County at 7.0% and Converse County at 6.7%.”
Like 21 of Wyoming’s 23 counties, Weston County experienced an increase in unemployment from December to January, although the increase in the county was the lowest in the state at 0.4%. 
Teton County was the only county that experienced no change in unemployment rate, while Crook County with a 0.5% increase and Goshen County with a 0.6% increase had the lowest increases in the state. The largest increases were seen in Big Horn and Sublette Counties at 1.5% and Niobrara County at 1.3%. 
Statewide, the unemployment rate in January was at 6.1% or 5.1%, seasonally adjusted. Nationally the unemployment rate was at 6.8% or 6.3%, seasonally adjusted.