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Wyoming Labor Force Trends

June 2025 | Volume 62, No. 6


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Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise in 2024

Article | Tables and Figures

by: Matthew Halama, Senior Economist

 

 Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims and the amount of benefits paid increased from 2023 to 2024. Overall, however, UI claims remained lower than pre-pandemic levels.


Wyoming's economy continued to improve in 2024, as over-the-year job growth increased to 15 consecutive quarters (see Figure 1). As the state continued to add jobs, the number of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit recipients remained relatively low, but did increase from 2023 to 2024 by 4.9%; in addition, the total amount of benefits paid increased by 14.3%. However, both metrics remained considerably lower than pre-pandemic levels. From 2022 to 2024, there were fewer UI benefit recipients than at any time 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 affect 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 2024, 10,972 unemployed workers received UI benefits in Wyoming, an increase of 512 (4.9%) from 2023 (see Figure 2). The number of UI recipients who exhausted their regular benefits increased from 1,797 in 2023 to 1,982 in 2024 (185, or 10.3%). The exhaustion rate (number of benefit exhaustees divided by the total number of recipients) increased from 17.2% to 18.1%. The increase in the number of exhaustees may indicate that people who lost jobs in 2024 had a more difficult time finding work.

Seven counties in Wyoming experienced over-the-year decreases in UI recipients, while 16 counties had an increase from 2023 to 2024 (see Table 1). The largest over-the-year decreases were seen in Sheridan (-61, or -13.1%), Johnson (-20, or -16.8%), and Niobrara (-13, or -40.6%) counties. The largest over-the-year increases were found in Campbell (132, or 22.6%), Laramie (92, or 6.2%), and Natrona (61, or 4.2%) counties. The number of out-of-state recipients increased by 113, or 5.8%. Out-of-state benefit recipients made up 18.7% of all benefit recipients in 2024, larger than any single county. Laramie and Natrona counties had the greatest share of UI claimants with 14.4% and 13.7%, respectively.

At the industry level, construction accounted for more than one in four of all UI recipients in 2024 (2,832 claimants, or 25.8%; see Table 2), followed by accommodation & food services (1,571, or 14.3%), health care & social assistance (819, or 7.5%), and administrative & waste services (797, or 7.3%). Construction also had the greatest number of out-of-state UI recipients (646, or 22.8%), followed by accommodation & food services (566, or 36.0%), and arts, entertainment, & recreation (183, or 38.7%).

From 2023 to 2024, 12 industries saw an increase in UI benefit recipients, while nine saw a decrease (see Table 3). The largest over-the-year increases were found in mining, including oil & gas (224, or 47.5%); professional & technical services (88, or 21.6%); health care & social assistance (76, or 10.2%); and accommodation & food services (70, or 4.7%). The greatest decreases in claimants were found in construction (-69, or -2.4%), finance & insurance (-52, or -25.2%), manufacturing (-28, or -5.4%), and public administration (-22, or -5.4%).

Fourteen industries had a higher benefit exhaustion rate in 2024 compared to 2023 (see Table 3). The highest exhaustion rates in 2024 were in agriculture (26.0%), information (24.5%), and real estate, rental & leasing (23.7%). The lowest exhaustion rates were in mining (13.2%), construction (15.9%), and arts, entertainment, & recreation (16.1%).

Overall the average number of weeks claimed remained unchanged from 2023 to 2024 at 10.3. The average number of weeks claimed decreased or were unchanged in 15 industries, with the greatest decreases seen in wholesale trade (-0.8), utilities (-0.7), and finance & insurance (-0.4). Six industries saw an over-the-year increase in the average number of weeks claimed, led by real estate & rental & leasing (1.2) and information (1.0). In general, higher average weeks claimed usually indicate that benefit recipients from a particular industry had a more difficult time finding new employment.

Demographics provide further insight on which subsets of the population receive UI benefits. Demographic data show that in general, older workers tend to have a higher UI benefit exhaustion rate than younger workers (see Figure 3 and Table 4). For example, individuals ages 65 and older had the highest benefit exhaustion rate of 34.2% in 2024, compared to lower exhaustion rates for individuals 16-24 (9.8%), 25-34 (12.0%), 35-44 (17.7%), 45-54 (18.6%) and 55-64 (23.6%).

In addition, Table 4 shows that 21.1% of females exhausted their benefits in 2024, compared to 16.6% of males. Females had higher exhaustion rates than males each year dating back to 2001, with the exception of 2020 (Halama, 2024).

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.

For example, 13.5% of recipients who were eligible for the maximum 26 weeks exhausted their benefits, compared to 37.1% of those eligible for 10-14 weeks and 29.6% of those eligible for 15-19 weeks. Similarly, 13.5% of those who earned $60,000 or more before they were laid off exhausted their benefits, compared to 28.4% of those who made less than $20,000 per year.

Statewide UI Benefit Expenses

The Unemployment Insurance division of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services paid a total of $51.7 million in UI benefits in 2024, including $48.7 million from the state UI trust fund and $3.0 million from other UI funds (see Figure 4). Total benefits paid increased from $45.1 million in 2023, an increase of $6.5 million, or 14.4%.

At the industry level (see Table 5), construction accounted for more than one-fourth of all benefits paid ($14.3 million, or 27.8%). Accommodation & food services had the second highest amount of benefits paid ($5.9 million, or 11.4% of the total), followed by administrative & waste services ($3.8 million, or 7.3%) and health care & social assistance ($3.6 million, or 7.0%).

From 2023 to 2024, mining (including oil & gas) had the greatest increase in benefits paid ($1.4 million, or 56.8%), followed by accommodation & food services ($984,322, or 20.1%) and construction ($620,621, or 4.5%).

Unemployment insurance benefit wage replacement 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 than usual in 2020 and 2021, due to federal Cares Act funding (Halama, 2024).

The average wage replacement rate across all industries was 38.6% in 2024, which was similar to the rate of 37.9% in 2023, the same as 2022, and much lower than the replacement rates of 76.6% and 78.8% in 2020 and 2021 (see Figure 5).

In 2024, accommodation & food services had the lowest average weekly wage of $547 and the highest wage replacement rate of 73.5% (see Table 6). Industries with lower average weekly wages tend to have higher wage replacement rates, such as arts, entertainment, & recreation (63.4%) and agriculture (53.7%). Industries with higher wages typically had lower wage replacement rates. For example, management of companies & enterprises had the highest average weekly wage ($4,223) and the lowest wage replacement rate (14.2%). Other industries with higher wages and lower replacement rates include professional & technical services (21.2%), finance & insurance (23.5%), and utilities (24.2%).

As previously mentioned, construction had the largest number of UI benefit recipients in 2024 (2,832); the average wage replacement rate in this industry was 38.6%, or a little more than one-third of the average weekly wage.

Table 7 shows UI benefit expenses by county for 2023 and 2024. A majority of counties experienced double-digit percentage increases in UI benefits paid over the year. The largest increases were seen in Natrona ($1.0 million, or 17.3%), Laramie ($997,968, or 15.5%), Campbell ($980,234, or 41.4%), and Sweetwater ($593,772, or 19.8%) counties. The amount of benefits paid to out-of-state recipients increased by $973,241, or 10.4%.

Among Wyoming counties, Laramie County had the greatest single amount of UI benefits paid in 2024 ($7.4 million, or 14.4%), followed by Natrona ($7.0 million, or 13.5%). Out-of-state UI recipients received $10.3 million (20.0% of all benefit expenses), the largest amount overall.

Reference

Halama, M. (2024, June). Chapter 5: Unemployment Insurance claims. 2024 Wyoming Workforce Annual Report. Research & Planning, WY DWS. Retrieved May 7, 2025, from https://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/annual-report/2024/2024_Annual_Report.pdf#page=30