Local Area Unemployment Statistics for Third Quarter 2003

Local Area Unemployment Statistics for Third Quarter 2003

by: Brad Payne, Economist

During third quarter 2003, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) employment increased statewide by 6,317 individuals or 2.4 percent when compared to third quarter 2002 (see Table). By comparison, employment had declined 1.3 percent between third quarters 2001 and 2002. Similar to employment, the labor force increased by 6,398 or 2.3 percent between the third quarter 2002 and third quarter 2003 while over-the-year unemployment increased by 81 or 0.9 percent. The 0.9 percent increase in unemployment is a relative improvement when compared to the 3.0 percent increase posted between third quarters 2001 and 2002. The average unemployment rate during third quarter 2003 was 3.4 percent while the unemployment rates during third quarters 2002 and 2001 were 3.5 and 3.3 percent, respectively.

Each of Wyoming’s five regions experienced positive third quarter to third quarter employment growth. The Southwest Region recorded the highest rate of growth (3.8%) by adding 1,957 individuals. Employment grew in Lincoln (127), Sublette (56), Sweetwater (895), Teton (500), and Uinta (378) counties. The Southwest and Northeast regions both showed employment growth in all counties.

Consistent with seasonal trends, statewide unemployment increased. Increases in unemployment in the Northeast, Southeast, and Central regions offset a 13.6 percent unemployment decrease in the Northwest and a 5.3 percent decrease in the Southwest. Unemployment increased most in the Northeast Region, led by Sheridan County which grew by 71 (17.5%). The unemployment increase in the Central Region was led by Natrona County (93 or 6.6%). Laramie County, located in the Southeast Region, experienced increased unemployment of 146 individuals (10.2%). Conversely, the largest decline in unemployment was found in Sweetwater County where unemployment fell by 109 (13.0%). While each of the underlying counties in the Northeast Region showed unemployment increases from third quarter to third quarter, each county in the Northwest Region posted unemployment declines during the same period.

The most dramatic quarter to quarter increases in the unemployment rates were found in Carbon County, Crook County, and Sheridan County. Carbon County’s unemployment rate increased from 3.1 percent in third quarter 2002 to 3.9 percent in third quarter 2003 (a change of 0.8 percentage points). Crook County’s unemployment rate increased from 2.5 percent to 2.9 percent (a change of 0.4 percentage points). The unemployment rate in Sheridan County also increased by 0.4 percentage points - from 2.8 percent in 2002 to 3.2 percent in 2003. In Carbon, Crook, and Sheridan counties, significant increases in unemployment (26.6%, 17.9%, and 17.5%, respectively) with relatively small increases in the labor force contributed to the rise in the unemployment rates.

The largest declines in the unemployment rates between third quarters 2002 and 2003 were posted in Washakie, Big Horn, and Hot Springs counties. The unemployment rates fell from 4.3 percent to 2.9 percent in Washakie County (a difference of 1.4 percentage points), 4.6 percent to 3.4 percent in Big Horn County (a difference of 1.2 percentage points), and 3.4 percent to 2.3 percent in Hot Springs County (a difference of 1.1 percentage points). The decreases in the unemployment rates for these three counties were driven by large decreases in unemployment: 34.3 percent, 26.4 percent, and 35.4 percent, respectively.

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