Unemployment in Wyoming hits 10-year high

Unemployment hits 10-year high in Wyoming
Meg Lanker

The nationwide recession is showing significant impact within Wyoming’s borders.

According to a report by Wyoming Department of Employment Senior Economist Sherry Wen, in the first quarter, initial unemployment insurance reached 14,803 and continued claims reached 103,502 – both 22 year-highs.

The Department of Employment (DOE) defines initial claimants as those who just lost their jobs and applied for unemployment benefits, and is the best indicator of new layoffs – although some unemployed workers choose not to apply for benefits. In the report, Wen detailed new unemployment claims by industry in the first quarter. Eleven industries showed double-digit increases in initial claims from 2008 to 2009. Mining experienced the largest increase at 401 percent, from 606 initial claims in 2008 to 3,036 in 2009.

The DOE shows all Wyoming counties posting increases in initial claims, with a total increase of 185.6 percent for 2009. Meanwhile, the DOE paid more than $35.8 million in unemployment insurance benefits for the first quarter, the largest quarterly payment since 1981.

Unemployment in Wyoming has continued to rise since the first of the year. “The seasonal adjusted unemployment rate for Wyoming increased from January 2009 to May 2009 from 3.7 to 5 percent,” said Carola Cowan, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Programs Supervisor at the Wyoming Department of Employment.

Unemployment in Wyoming has hit a 10-year high as well. “Last year in May the seasonal adjusted unemployment rate for Wyoming was three percent. The last time Wyoming's seasonal adjusted unemployment rate was five percent was in 1999,” said Cowan.

A new release from the DOE dated July 22 shows an unemployment rate of 5.9 percent for June, an increase of nearly one percent. The release states that over the year, employment decreased by 7,900 jobs, or 2.6 percent.

The areas seeing the largest job losses this year were natural resources and mining and construction, both posting job losses of 11.9 percent, or 3500 jobs each.

The latest unemployment rates for Albany County show the county posting the lowest rate of unemployment in the state, tied with Sublette County. The seasonally adjusted rate for unemployment in Albany County was 4.2 percent. Neighboring Laramie County’s rate of unemployment was 5.9 percent.

Every county in Wyoming saw unemployment increase in June. In June 2008, Albany County’s unemployment was 2.8 percent, with 3 percent unemployed statewide.