Unemployed numbers fall

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Weston County’s unemployment rate dropped to 2% in September, the second-lowest unemployment rate in the state, according to the Wyoming Department of Services Research and Planning’s Oct. 25 report. In August, the county’s unemployment rate was 2.7%
“In September, the lowest unemployment rates were found in Teton County at 1.8% and Crook and Weston Counties, both at 2%,” the report says. “The highest rates were reported in Natrona County at 3.7% and Campbell, Sublette and Sweetwater counties, all at 3.4%”
Statewide, the unemployment rate was 2.8% in September, or 4.5% seasonally adjusted. In September, the national unemployment rate was 4.6% or 4.8% seasonally adjusted. 
Seasonally adjusted figures are created through a statistical procedure to remove the impact of normal regularly recurring events such as weather, major holidays and the opening and closing of schools, from the economic time series to better understand changes in economic conditions from month to month, according to the report.
Compared with last year and last month, all 23 Wyoming counties experienced decreases in their unemployment rates. While Weston County’s rate only fell 0.7% from August to September, the county’s unemployment rate dropped from 3.6% last September to the 2% seen this year. 
With an unemployment rate of 2%, Weston County only has 75 unemployed individuals out of the 3,843-person labor force. In August, when the unemployment rate was 2.7%, there were 101 unemployed people out of the 3,768-person labor force. 
Statewide, there are 8,082 people unemployed out of the 292,802-person labor force. In August, the state had an unemployment rate of 3.7% with 10,917 unemployment people out of the 294,877-person labor force. 
In September of 2020, when the county’s unemployment rate was at 3.6%, there were 139 unemployed people out of the 3,838-person labor force. At this time, the state had an unemployment rate of 5.5% with 16,320 unemployed individuals out of the 298,662-person labor force.