Wyoming Jobless Rate Increases Slightly

Wyoming's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.1 percent in November from October's 4.0 percent, according to a new report from the state Department of Workforce Services.

The department says the slight increase is ''not statistically significant."

The November 2015 jobless rate for the state was slightly below the 4.3 percent unemployment rate recorded in Wyoming in November 2014 and well below the national jobless rate of 5.0 percent for last month.

Between 2014 and 2015 Wyoming's unemployment rate rose in eight counties, fell in 14 counties and was unchanged in Hot Springs County.

Not surprisingly. the biggest jumps in unemployment year-over-year were seen in some of the state's biggest energy producing counties. That included Natrona County, up from 4.2  to 5.1 percent; Sweetwater County, from 4.0 percent to 4.9 percent; and Campbell County, up from 3.5 to 4.0 percent.

But the state's most populous county-Laramie County-showed a year over year decline of almost a full point, from 4.7 to 3.8 percent.

The highest unemployment rates in Wyoming in November were found in Teton County, 6.7 percent; Fremont County, 5.5 percent; and Natrona County, 5.1 percent.