Wyoming’s unemployment rate increased slightly from May to June, according to state figures, ending the first half of 2021 at 5.6%.
The state Department of Workforce Services’ Research and Planning Division, in its monthly report on unemployment figures in the state, said 16,825 people were without work in June, an increase of about 800 from May, resulting in a slight increase in the unemployment rate from May’s 5.4%.
However, Wyoming’s 2021 unemployment rates remained well below the figures seen one year ago. In June of 2020, the state’s unemployment rate was 7.3%.
“From June 2020 to June 2021, unemployment rates fell in most counties,” the report said. “The COVID-19 pandemic caused unemployment rates to be unusually high in June 2020, but in 2021, unemployment rates seem to be approaching more typical levels as the economy recovers.”
The report showed that as of June, Weston County had the lowest unemployment rate at 3.8%, followed by Teton County at 3.8%.
The highest unemployment rate was found in Natrona County at 7.4%, the report said, followed by Sweetwater County at 7.1%.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate — which takes into account seasonal developments such as increased tourism and construction jobs — stood at 5.4% in June, the same figure seen in May, but a significant drop from the rate of 7.4% recorded in June 2020.
Wyoming’s unemployment rate remained well below the national average in June of 6.1%. The national seasonally adjusted rate in June was 5.9%.
