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Wyoming Labor Force Trends

May 2025 | Volume 62, No. 5


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Labor Force, Employment Reach 7-Year High in 2023

Article | Table and Figure

by: Carola Cowan, BLS Programs Supervisor

 

Excerpted from the forthcoming 2025 Wyoming Workforce Annual Report

Wyoming’s average annual unemployment rate for 2024 was 3.2%, up from 2.9% in 2023 (see Table 1). Despite the increase, Wyoming's unemployment rate remained low compared to each of the last 10 years.

Wyoming’s labor force (the sum of all employed and unemployed individuals) increased for the third consecutive year (see Figure 1). In 2024, the labor force was 296,715, up from 296,385 in 2023. Compared to 2021, which marked a 10-year low of 289,152, Wyoming's labor force increased by 7,563, or 2.6%.

The labor force directly affects the unemployment rate, which is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed by the labor force. If the number of unemployed remains the same but the labor force increases, then the unemployment rate will go down. From 2023 to 2024, the number of unemployed and the labor force both increased, leading to a higher unemployment rate.

The number of people employed in 2024 was 287,117, down slightly over the year (see Table 1). The number of unemployed people was 9,598, up from 8,639 in 2023, but still considerably lower than any other year in the last decade.

In 2024, the counties with the lowest unemployment rates were Teton (2.4%), Crook (2.5%), and Albany (2.7%) counties. The highest rates were found in Big Horn (4.0%), Fremont (3.9%), Platte (3.7%), and Carbon (3.7%) counties.

All counties saw an increase in their average annual unemployment rate from the previous year. The largest percentage point increases were Big Horn (0.6) and Weston (0.5); eight other counties increased by 0.4 percentage points.