Wyoming Unemployment Stats and News

Wyoming Unemployment Stats

Current and Historical Wyoming Stats Analysis

Wyoming's current unemployment rate is hovering around 5.5 percent, which is a near two-point drop from its December 2009 peak of 7.2 percent.

Unfortunately, this rate is a high increase from the 3.8 percent low in 2015, and it currently rests nearly a full percentage point above the national average on other unemployment stats.

In other Wyoming unemployment news is the fact that around 17,000 people are currently unemployed in Wyoming, partially due to the state's heavy reliance on oil-industry jobs. As gas prices continue to drop, this impacts the economy in areas that rely on high gas prices to pay wages. Unfortunately, this has led to an increasing unemployment rate across the state.

This decrease in Wyoming employment stats is a common problem for the state, as its industry sector isn't very diverse. Beyond oil, it has a high influx of healthcare and service jobs. All told, 5.5 percent isn't as bad as it could be for the state, but improvement is necessary.

Why Unemployment Stats Are Valuable

The Wyoming Labor Market Information website has two great sources of Wyoming unemployment stats. The Wyoming Labor Market Information site lets you gauge a variety of wages and unemployment statistics across the state. The Occupations, Earnings, and Wages page on the site breaks down stats based on industry. As always, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics has a state-specific site that breaks down the state's unemployment rates and various important stats.

Wyoming Unemployment News

Wyoming Unemployment in the News

There is still some good Wyoming unemployment news in the state, as many companies attempt to take charge to create more work. The Sinclair Refinery offered free OSHA 10 and 30 construction classes at the Carbon County Higher Education Center in September.

These classes were designed to help decrease the incidence of work accidents and OSHA violations, problems which can lead to high levels of unemployment.

These changes are all part of the recent promise by the Wyoming DWS to raise the maximum penalties for OSHA violations. This is the first OSHA penalty increase since 1990, with a one-time catch-up penalty increase of 78 percent.

The idea behind this increase is not to punish businesses, but to compel them to meet OSHA safety standards.

OSHA violations often cause injuries which can put someone out of work for months or even years. They can also cause a severe decrease in wages as the company tries to pay for wages. Hopefully, these new penalties will compel higher compliance and, by extension, decreased unemployment rates.

Sources:

• http://wyomingworkforce.org/workers/ui/
• https://doe.state.wy.us/lmi/0301/a2.htm
• http://www.payroll-taxes.com/state-tax/wyoming
• https://doe.state.wy.us/wire
• http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/_docs/ui/Reporting-Wages-for-Owners.pdf
• http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/_docs/ui/Wyoming-Claimant-Guidebook.pdf
• http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/workers/ui/faq/#03
• http://wyomingworkforce.org/workers/ui/faq/#17
• http://wyomingworkforce.org/workers/ui/filing/
• https://doe.state.wy.us/Inetclaims/
• http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/workers/ui/faq/#08
• http://wyomingworkforce.org/workers/ui/biweekly/
• http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/businesses/appeals/
• http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/workers/ui/faq/#06
• http://wyomingworkforce.org/workers/employment/
• http://wyomingworkforce.org/contact/employment/
• http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/about/mission/
• http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/wyoming/
• http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming-suffers-nation-s-largest-unemployment-rate-jump/article_91c440ee-b6a7-510b-85a7-d769bac6ea35.html
• https://doe.state.wy.us/LmI/
• http://doe.state.wy.us/lmi/oes.htm
• http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.wy.htm
• http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/news/2016-08-17/
• http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/news/2016-09-02/