Seasonal Variation in Separation from the Wyoming Labor Market?
by: Valerie A. Davis, Senior Statistician

Separations from the Wyoming labor market⁽¹⁾ can be broken out by county. The Map shows separation rates⁽²⁾ by county for 1995. Do people leaving the labor market and seasonal⁽³⁾ changes coincide?

The seasonal percent change⁽⁴⁾ in employment showed that Crook, Park, Sublette, Teton and Uinta Counties had the highest levels of seasonal variation. Of these, four also had the highest separation rates and three had Services as the industry with the most employment. Retail Trade and Services are highly seasonal industries.

With separation rates between 16.1 and 18.8 percent, three of these six counties had the lowest seasonal variations. Only one of those three counties had the most employment in Retail Trade.

There were six counties that had separation rates between 14.6 and 16.0 percent (Albany, Fremont, Hot Springs, Niobrara, Sheridan and Weston). Of these counties, two had the highest seasonal variation and only one had Services as the industry with the greatest employment.

Six counties had separation rates of 10.5 to 14.5 percent (Campbell, Converse, Natrona, Sublette, Sweetwater and Washakie). Only one of these had high seasonal variation and the most employment in Local Government.

This information suggests that no relationship exists between seasonal variation and separations from the labor market. When a person leaves the labor market, it does not appear to relate to seasonal changes.

1 G. Lee Saathoff, "Separation from the Labor Market," Wyoming Labor Force Trends, March 1999, pp. 1-5.

2 Separation Rate: The number of separations per county in 1995 divided by the annual average employment (found in 1995 Annual Covered Employment and Wages) and then multiplied by 100.

3 Seasonal (seasonality): The rise or fall of employment levels in certain industries because of tourism, the weather or holidays (especially Christmas) each year.

4 Valerie Davis, "Seasonal Variation of Employment in Wyoming," Trends, February 1999, p. 13.

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