Unemployment lowest in state

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Weston County once again had the lowest unemployment rate in the state, at 1.7% for October, similar to a majority of the months in 2021, according to the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services Research and Planning’s Nov. 22 report. 
“The lowest rates were found in Weston County at 1.7%, Teton County at 1.8% and Niobrara and Crook counties, each at 1.9%,” the report states. 
The highest unemployment rates were seen in Natrona County at 3.3%, Sweetwater County at 3.1%, Sublette County at 3% and Campbell County at 2.9%. 
Statewide, the unemployment rate for October was 2.5%, or 4.1% seasonally adjusted. Nationwide the unemployment rate was reported to be 4.3%, or 4.6% 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. 
From September to October, the unemployment rate fell in most counties, including Weston County and statewide. Weston County’s unemployment rate dropped from 1.9% to 1.7% month over month while the statewide seasonally adjusted rate dropped from 4.5% to 4.1%. 
“The recent decreases in Wyoming’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate have been largely the result of unemployed individuals leaving the labor force,” the report states. “From October 2020 to October 2021, the number of unemployed people in Wyoming decreased by an estimated 3,955 individuals. Estimates suggest that just over one-third of those people (1,331 individuals) had found jobs and gone to work, while nearly two-thirds (2,624 individual) had stopped looking for work and dropped out of the labor force. It appears that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect Wyoming.” 
Statewide, in October, there were a total of 7,221 individuals unemployed out of a labor force of 292,278. In Weston County, 66 individuals are unemployed out of a 3,832-person labor force. 
While the statewide labor force dropped from September to October, Weston County’s reportedly increased from 3,809 people to 3,832 while the number of unemployed decreased from 74 to 66 people. 
In October of 2020, when the county unemployment rate was reported to be 2.9%, Weston County had a labor force of 3,843 with 112 individuals unemployed.