A History of the Minimum Wage in Wyoming and the U.S.
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This article examines the history of the minimum wage at the federal and state levels and includes the changes that have taken place over recent years.
The federal minimum wage was first established in 1938 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Fair Labor Standards Act, which introduced regulations to protect American workers and created a mandatory federal minimum wage of 25 cents per hour.
Out of the 45 states that have a minimum wage requirement, four of the states (Arkansas, Georgia, Minnesota, and Wyoming) have a minimum wage set below the federal level. Washington, D.C. and 21 other states have a minimum wage set higher than the federal minimum wage. Effective as of January 1, 2014, 20 states have a minimum wage rate that is the same as the federal minimum wage rate. There are five states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee) that do not have a minimum wage rate requirement so the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies to most workers.
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Wyoming Unemployment Rate at 4.0% in June 2014
Since March 2014, Wyoming’s unemployment rate has remained within the narrow range of 3.7% to 4.0%. Unemployment in Wyoming was much lower than its June 2013 level of 4.6%, and significantly lower than the current U.S. unemployment rate of 6.1%.
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Economic Indicators
The amount of benefits paid by Wyoming Unemployment Insurance fell 26.5% from June 2013 to June 2014.
Wyoming County Unemployment Rates
The lowest unemployment rates were found in Teton (3.3%), Sublette (3.3%), Converse (3.4%), and Campbell (3.4%) counties.
Wyoming Normalized Unemployment Insurance Statistics: Initial Claims
The amount of benefits paid by Wyoming Unemployment Insurance fell 26.5% from June 2013 to June 2014.
Wyoming Normalized Unemployment Insurance Statistics: Continued Claims
Continued claims decreased by 26.8% over-the-year. Large decreases were observed in local education (60.1%), information (47.0%), and other services (45.6%).