Wyoming in Slowdown, but Better than U.S. LARAMIE, WY (wpr) - Recent job growth and unemployment figures confirm Wyoming is in a slowdown.

Job growth dropped between July and August. Meanwhile unemployment continues to rise.

Tom Gallagher from the Department of Employment says the industries that lost the most jobs last month were hospitality, government, and construction: "We've seen the construction industry drop in August by about 700 jobs. There's still about 30,000 jobs, but that's kind of unusual to see a decline in the construction industry at this time of year."

Normally, Gallagher says, construction is strong until around October. He suspects this year's decline is due to lower demand for housing.

Still, Wyoming is doing well compared to the rest of the nation. U.S. unemployment stood at just over 6 percent in August. Wyoming was at about 4 percent. © Copyright 2009, wpr