Unemployment rate one of lowest

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
The unemployment rate in Weston County continued to drop and remain below the state and national rates in May, according to a June 25 report from the Wyoming Department of Workforce Service Research and Planning Division. 
“Most county unemployment rates changed very little from April to May,” the report says, noting “slight increases” in Niobrara, Albany and Goshen counties. 
Weston County, on the other hand, once again experienced a decrease in the unemployment rate from April to May, although the drop was only 0.1%. Over the same period, the counties of Weston (2.9%), Niobrara (2.7%), Converse (2.8%) and Crook (2.9%) saw the lowest unemployment rates in the state.
The breakdown of percentages into real numbers shows Weston County’s labor force at 3,728 people for May, slightly lower than April’s 3,739. The number of those individuals employed in May totaled 3,621, compared with April’s 3,628, meaning that a total of 107 individuals were unemployed in May, down from 111 in April. 
Weston County also had a lower unemployment rate for May 2019 than the 3.2% in May 2018. 
“From May 2018 to May 2019, unemployment rates fell in 21 counties, and rose slightly in two counties,” the report says. 
Weston County had just a 0.3% difference from 2018 to 2019, while other counties experienced more significant increases, such as Fremont, down 1%; Teton, down 0.8%, and Washakie, down 0.7%. During this same period, both the unemployment rates in both Goshen and Niobrara counties increased by 0.3%. 
The statewide unemployment rate for May 2019 is 3.3%, slightly lower than the national rate of 3.4%. The statewide rate is unchanged from the previous month’s rate, while the national rate rose by 0.1%. 
The June unemployment report will be released July 23.