CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming’s unemployment rate more than doubled to 9.2% in April amid an energy-market downturn and measures to control the coronavirus.
Wyoming’s unemployment was 3.8% in March. State officials first ordered the shutdown of businesses and schools and restricted public gatherings to limit the spread of the coronavirus in mid-March.
A sharp drop in oil prices due to the coronavirus and an international price war also took a toll on Wyoming’s economy. Non-farm payroll employment in Wyoming in April fell by 26,000 to 263,000.
Still, Wyoming had the fifth-lowest rate in the nation, according to numbers released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nevada had the highest unemployment rate in April, at 28.2%. Connecticut had the lowest, at 7.9%, the Casper Star-Tribune reports.
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