LONDON: Wyoming unemployment rates have dropped by nearly 2%. Rates go from nearly 6% to 4%. Wyoming…the residents and jobs help make the state unique. There have been signs it’s slowly recovering since unemployment has fallen about 2%. “That shows some clear improvement compared to where we were at the end of 2016. so the job losses are much smaller,” said David Bullard, a statistician with the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services. The biggest areas with rates dropping, but still struggling were mining, oil and gas, transportation and more.
Retailers even felt the oil downturn with about 1,100 job losses in the past year. “So while the mining job losses are getting smaller, the retail job losses are getting a little bit bigger.” Downtown Casper business owners have also seen slight improvements lately compared to the past two years. “Since about the middle of July it started picking up and we’re actually running gains over last year now for the first time in a couple of years,” said Mike Stepp from Donells Candies.
