Unemployment down

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Weston County now has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state after the county’s rate fell 0.4% from July to August, according to a Sept. 24 report from the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services Research and Planning Division. 
The county’s unemployment rate of 2.8% is below both state and federal unemployment rates, which are sitting at 3.5% and 2.8%, respectively. Last year, Weston County’s unemployment rate for August was 3.1%. 
“Teton County had the lowest unemployment rate in August at 2%. It was followed by Niobrara County at 2.6%, and Weston County, Converse County and Carbon County, each at 2.8%,” the report says. “The highest unemployment rates were found in Campbell County at 4.5% and Fremont County at 4.2%.” 
According to Wenlin Liu, with unemployment rates in the state holding steady throughout the year, the labor market is definitely tight, leading to employers having a harder time finding skilled workers to fill openings. Liu is chief economist of the Economic Analysis Division of the Wyoming Department of Analysis and Information,
A breakdown of the components considered when figuring the unemployment rate shows the labor force in Weston County numbering 3,654, up 14 from the previous month and down one from the year before. The number of employed individuals in the county was 3,552 in August, up 27 from July and 11 from August 2018. 
The number of unemployed in the county, according to the report, is currently 102, down 13 from July and 12 from August 2018. 
Statewide, the labor force consists of 292,361 people, with 282,228 employed and 10,133 unemployed. 
“The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly from 3.6% in July to 3.7% in August. Wyoming’s unemployment rate remained lower than its year-ago level of 4.2%,” the report says. 
September unemployment rates will be released Oct. 22.