Weston County jobless rate falls to 4.6%

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Weston County had the fourth-lowest unemployment rate in the state in July, according to the Aug. 25 unemployment report from the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services Research and Planning Division. 
“Economic conditions improved somewhat around the state as unemployment rates fell in all 23 counties from June to July,” the report says. 
The county’s July unemployment rate of 4.6% was 0.4% lower than the June rate. 
The county’s unemployment rate peaked in April at 5.7% amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In both May and June, the county’ rate held to 5.0%.
A 4.6% unemployment rate in the county means, according to the report, that 179 people are unemployed out of a labor force of 3,196 people. In June, 195 people were without jobs; in May, 188 were unemployed. The unemployment peak for the county was in April, when 212 individuals were without employment. 
During July, Albany County at 3.9%, Niobrara County at 4.3% and Crook County at 4.4% all had lower unemployment rates than Weston County, while the highest unemployment rates were found in Natrona County at 10.2%, Campbell and Sweetwater counties both at 8.8% and Uinta County at 8.0%. 
Statewide, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.8% in July, from 7.6% to 6.8%. Every county in Wyoming was lower than the 10.5% unemployment rate nationwide. 
Despite every county experiencing a decrease in unemployment rates from June to July of this year, every single county had a higher rate than the previous year. 
Weston County, in July 2019, had the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 2.9%. The highest rate was in Campbell County at 5.3%, amid coal mine layoffs and closures, and statewide the unemployment rate was 3.6%. 
The August unemployment rates will be released on
Sept. 22.