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Wyoming Labor Force Trends

May 2024 | Volume 61, No. 5


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Wyoming UI Claims, Benefits Paid Remain Low in 2023

Article | Tables and Figures


by: Matthew Halama, Senior Economist


Unemployment Insurance claims continued to decline to record lows in 2023, but the total amount of benefits paid increased compared to 2022. In addition, a greater proportion of claimants exhausted their benefits in 2023, perhaps indicating it was harder for those who lost jobs to find reemployment.

 

Wyoming's economy continued to improve in 2023, as the state's total employment increased from prior-year levels for 11 consecutive quarters as of fourth quarter 2024 (see Figure 1).

With increases in employment came decreases in the number of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit recipients; however, the total amount of benefits paid increased from 2022 to 2023. Both metrics are considerably below pre-pandemic levels. Continuing its trend from last year, the number of benefit recipients was at its lowest since 1997, the first year for which comparable data are available.

This article examines selected UI statistics and provides analysis for a better understanding of Wyoming’s UI claims and how they effect the current economy. Weekly, monthly, and annual UI claims data are available at https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/UI.htm.

UI Benefit Recipients and Exhaustees

In 2023, 10,460 unemployed workers received UI benefits in Wyoming, a decrease of 137 (-1.3%) from 2022 (see Figure 2). The number of UI recipients who exhausted their regular benefits increased from 1,660 in 2022 to 1,797 in 2023 (137, or 8.3%). The exhaustion rate (number of benefit exhaustees divided by the total number of recipients) increased from 15.7% to 17.2%. The increase in the number of exhaustees from last year may indicate it was harder for those who lost jobs to find reemployment.

There were 15 counties in Wyoming that experienced over-the-year decreases in UI recipients, while eight counties had an increase from 2022 to 2023 (see Table 1). The largest over-the-year decreases were seen in Lincoln (-70, or -21.0%), Carbon (-48, or -19.2%), and Campbell (-44, or -7.0%) counties. The largest over-the-year increases were in Laramie (89, or 6.4%), Goshen (32, or 37.6%), and Natrona (31, or 2.2%) counties. The number of out-of-state recipients increased by five, or 0.3%. Out-of-state benefit recipients made up 18.5% of all benefit recipients in 2023, larger than any single county. Laramie and Natrona counties had the greatest share of UI claimants, with 14.2% and 13.8%, respectively.

At the industry level, construction accounted for over one in four UI recipients in 2023 (2,901 claimants, or 27.7%; see Table 2), followed by accommodation & food services (1,501, or 14.3%), health care & social assistance (743, or 7.1%), and administrative & waste services (731, or 7.0%). Construction also accounted for the largest number of out-of-state UI recipients (652, or 22.5%), followed by accommodation & food services (524, or 34.9%), and arts, entertainment, & recreation (164, or 38.2%).

The majority of industries saw an increase in UI benefit recipients from 2022 to 2023, while eight industries saw decreases (see Table 3). The largest over-the-year decreases were in construction (-404, or -12.2%), mining (-76, or -13.9%), and educational services (-67, or -29.6%). The largest over-the-year increase was in professional & technical services (89, or 27.9%), followed by information (75, or 115.4%), and retail trade (62, or 9.9%).

Thirteen industries had higher benefit exhaustion rates in 2023 compared to 2022. The highest exhaustion rates in 2023 were in educational services (30.8%), public administration (25.5%), and agriculture (23.2%). The lowest exhaustion rates in 2023 were in utilities (9.5%) and management of companies & enterprises (11.5%); accommodation & food services and construction both had an exhaustion rate of 14.3%.

The average number of weeks claimed remained largely unchanged, from 10.4 in 2022 to 10.3 in 2023 (see Table 3). Most industries saw slight variations in their average weeks claimed in 2022 and 2023, with the exception of mining, including oil & gas (8.6 in 2022 and 10.2 in 2023). In general, higher average weeks claimed usually indicate that benefit recipients from a particular industry had a more difficult time finding new employment.

Wyoming saw a slight over-the-year decrease in UI recipients and average weeks claimed, while seeing a slight increase in the average UI exhaustion rate. This indicates that Wyoming’s employment situation has been steady in 2023. One possible area of concern is that some industries saw large increases in UI exhaustion rates from 2022 to 2023, such as educational services (16.4% to 30.8%), mining, including oil & gas (10.6% to 15.9%), and health care & social assistance (15.6% to 18.7%). An increase in exhaustion rate could indicate that those who lost jobs in those particular industries had a harder time finding employment.

Demographics are another key to identifying which subsets of the population are UI recipients. Demographic data are broken out in Table 4 and show that older workers had a higher UI benefit exhaustion rate than younger workers. The exhaustion rate was 13.0% for those ages 25-34, 21.3% for those 55-64 and 32.0% for those 65 and older (see Figure 3 and Table 4). In addition, women had higher exhaustion rates than men every year since 2001, with the exception of 2020.

A higher pre-layoff wage and longer-term employment would qualify a claimant for more weeks of UI benefits, with a maximum of 26 weeks. In other words, individuals with more eligible weeks of UI benefits had more time to find re-employment, and were less likely to exhaust their benefits than those with fewer weeks of eligibility.

Statewide UI Benefit Expenses

The Unemployment Insurance division of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services paid a total of $45.1 million in UI benefits in 2023, including $42.6 million from the state UI trust fund and $2.6 million from other UI funds (see Figure 4). State UI trust fund benefits increased $3.1 million (8.0%) to $42.6 million from the $39.4 million in 2022.

At the industry level (see Table 5), in 2023 construction had nearly one-third of all UI benefits ($13.7 million, or 30.4%), followed by accommodation & food services ($4.9 million, or 10.9%), and administrative & waste services ($3.2 million, or 7.0%). Industries that saw large over-the-year decreases include construction (-$623,386, or -4.3%), educational services (-$327,587, or -31.2%), and agriculture (-$36,700, or -10.1%).

Industries that had over-the-year increases in UI benefits include professional & technical services ($595,876, or 43.8%), retail trade $579,429, or 29.1%), and accommodation & food services ($543,053, or 12.4%).

Unemployment insurance benefit wage replacement (see Figure 5) refers to how much of an individual’s average weekly wages were covered by UI benefits, and is calculated by dividing the average weekly benefit by the average weekly wage. Wage replacement rates were higher in 2020 and 2021 (76.5% and 78.7%, respectively) compared to 2022 and 2023 (38.7% and 38.6%, respectively) due to federal Cares Act funding.

The average wage replacement rate across all industries was 38.6% in 2023, which was the same as 2022, and much lower than the replacement rates of 76.6% and 78.8% in 2020 and 2021 (see Table 6). In 2023, accommodation & food services had the lowest average weekly wage of $527 and the highest wage replacement rate of 70.3%. Industries with lower average weekly wages tend to have higher wage replacement rates, such as arts, entertainment, & recreation (66.1%), and agriculture (48.6%). Industries with higher wages typically had lower wage replacement rates, such as management of companies & enterprises (11.6%), finance & insurance (22.4%), mining (24.9%), and utilities (24.9%).

Table 7 shows UI benefit expenses by county for 2022 and 2023. A majority of counties experienced double-digit percentage increases in UI benefit expenses over the year. The largest increases were seen in Laramie ($881,314, or 15.9%), Natrona ($673,973, or 12.8%), Sweetwater ($322,033, or 12.0%), and Teton ($291,369, or 13.4%) counties. The amount of benefits paid to out-of-state recipients increased by $454,839, or 5.1%.

Among Wyoming counties, Laramie County had the greatest single amount of UI benefits in 2023 ($6.4 million, or 14.3%), followed by Natrona ($5.9 million, or 13.2%). Out-of-state UI recipients received $9.4 million, the largest amount overall.

Conclusion

Wyoming’s UI program saw a slight decrease in the number of benefit recipients, while benefit expenses increased from 2022 to 2023, with most counties and industries experiencing increases. The data discussed in this article show Wyoming’s economy was relatively steady in 2023.