HSC unemployment rises

Wyoming’s unemployment rate remained unchanged during December at 3.7 percent according to the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services.

Hot Springs County was one of only three counties in the state where unemployment actually rose, going from 3.7 percent to 4.0 percent.

With a small population, it doesn’t take much for the unemployment numbers to go up and down significantly in Hot Springs County.

During the month of December, just one person was added to the labor force, yet that number is higher than it was in December of 2018 by 27 people, so we actually have more people available to work this year than we did the year before.

As far as unemployment numbers, 12 fewer people were working during December than in November, causing the 0.03 percent rise in unemployment.

Big Horn, Washakie, Lincoln, Sheridan and Campbell counties saw significant drops in their unemployment rates in December while Niobrara and Goshen counties joined Hot Springs with higher numbers.