Unemployment rate climbs again

For the second month in a row, Weston County experienced an increase in the unemployment rate, according to the March 28 report from the Research and Planning office of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services. 
From December 2021 to January 2022, the county’s unemployment rate increased from 1.7% to 2.9%. Despite this increase, Weston County still had the second-lowest unemployment rate in the state. 
The rate increased once again to 3.1% in February, nudging Weston County out of the lowest two unemployment rate rankings statewide. The county’s 3.1% ties with both Albany County and Goshen County for third-lowest rate. Teton County at 2.5% has the lowest rate, followed by Natrona County at 2.7%.
“From January to February, most county unemployment rates changed very little. Jobless rates increased slightly in Big Horn (up from 4.8% to 5.0%), Park (up from 4.2% to 4.4%), Platte (up from 3.6% to 3.8%), and Weston (up from 2.9% to 3.1%) counties,”  the report says, it notes that the largest decreases were seen in Niobrara County (-0.6%), Carbon County (-0.3%) and Hot Springs County (-0.2%). 
Statewide, the unemployment rate remained unchanged from January to February at 4%. 
The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped slightly from 3.8% to 3.7%. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical procedure to remove the impact of normal regular occurring 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. 
During this time, the labor force has remained almost the same with 3,740 people in the county’s labor force in January and 3,738 in February. The number of unemployed was reported to be 109 in January and 115 in February. 
Statewide, the labor force also dropped, from 288,837 in January to 288,769 in February. The number of unemployed dropped from 11,674 to 11,607. 
Year-over-year, the unemployment rate dropped in all 23 Wyoming counties. Weston County’s unemployment rate dropped from 4.3% in February of 2021 to 3.1% in February 2022. Statewide, the rate dropped from 6.0% in 2021 to 4.0% in 2022, or 5.0% seasonally adjusted to the 3.7% reported in February 2022. 
“County unemployment rates were elevated during most of 2020 and 2021 and recent decreases suggest that unemployment rates are returning to normal levels,” the report states. 
As previously reported, these elevated levels were attributed to the
COVID-19 pandemic. 
Reports for March 2022’s unemployment rates are expected to be released April 18.