{"schema_version": 1, "id": "wy-nonmetropolitan-area/human-resources/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 527, "label": "WY NONMETROPOLITAN AREA", "slug": "wy-nonmetropolitan-area"}, "focus_area": {"key": "human_resources", "slug": "human-resources", "label": "Human Resources"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:13:07.834328+00:00", "headline": "Wyoming's labor shortage is a participation problem, not a hiring freeze.", "headline_summary": "Nonmetro Wyoming unemployment holds at 3.0%, but labor force participation has fallen to a 10-year low of 60.2%, meaning the real constraint on hiring is workers leaving the labor force rather than a lack of job creation.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Labor force participation", "value": "60.2%", "context": "10-year low, August 2026"}, {"label": "Nonmetro unemployment range", "value": "1.8%-4.0%", "context": "Teton County vs Niobrara County"}, {"label": "Projected job openings through 2026", "value": "74,421", "context": "66,224 from retirements/transfers, not growth"}, {"label": "Average annual wage, nonmetro", "value": "$47,853", "context": "Up 3.7% year-over-year"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Labor force exit, not layoffs, is the real constraint.", "body": "Participation at a 10-year low of 60.2% means fewer available workers even as unemployment sits at just 3.0%. Recruitment strategy built around attracting active job seekers will underperform in a market where the bigger problem is people leaving the labor force entirely."}, {"headline": "Healthcare staffing softness bucks the national pattern.", "body": "Private education and health services shed 500 jobs in nonmetro Wyoming even as national healthcare employment trends up on demographic demand. Wyoming's new SF 107 voiding physician non-competes adds recruitment complexity just as the sector is already contracting locally."}, {"headline": "Replacement demand, not growth, is driving most openings.", "body": "Of 74,421 projected openings through 2026, 27,211 stem from retirements and 39,013 from transfers versus new job creation. Workforce planning should prioritize succession and internal mobility programs over pure headcount expansion forecasts."}, {"headline": "Hospitality's hiring gains mask a retention problem.", "body": "Leisure and hospitality added 600 jobs in July-August even as sector-wide wages remain the state's lowest at $581 weekly. Growth without wage competitiveness is consistent with high churn risk as workers transfer toward better-paying alternatives."}], "local_conditions": "Wyoming's nonmetro counties show a historically tight labor market, with unemployment flat at 3.0% statewide in August 2026 and labor force participation falling to a 10-year low of 60.2%, meaning fewer workers are available even where openings exist. County-level variation remains stark \u2014 Teton County at 1.8% versus Niobrara County at 4.0% \u2014 reflecting divergent industry mixes between tourism-driven and resource-extraction economies rather than a uniform regional trend.", "implications": "Shrinking labor force participation rather than weak demand is the binding constraint on hiring in nonmetro Wyoming, which shifts the strategic question from \"how fast can we hire\" to \"how do we retain and redeploy the workers we already have.\" With 74,421 total job openings projected through 2026 and over half driven by retirements and transfers rather than growth, workforce planning should weight internal mobility and succession pipelines as heavily as external recruitment. Consider reviewing retention incentives and internal transfer pathways in leisure/hospitality and healthcare, where headcount moved in opposite directions this summer.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected release", "body": "BLS publishes September 2026 Wyoming unemployment data October 20-21. Watch whether the 60.2% participation low deteriorates further, which would tighten nonmetro recruitment even more."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "SF 107's elimination of physician non-competes takes effect as healthcare employment is already declining locally. Expect increased physician mobility between Wyoming health systems and potentially out of state."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "County-level divergence between Teton (1.8% unemployment) and Niobrara (4.0%) suggests recruitment geography matters more than statewide averages. Benchmark by county, not just state, when setting pay for multi-site operations."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "National information-sector layoffs (23,000 jobs lost in August) could eventually push remote-capable tech talent toward lower-cost Wyoming counties. Monitor candidate pool composition for unexpected out-of-state tech applicants."}], "roles": [{"role": "Compensation Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 75675.0, "metro_p50": 100335.4, "metro_p75": 113211.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 101727.4, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Business Partner", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 59301.0, "metro_p50": 77767.0, "metro_p75": 92776.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 83766.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Benefits Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 107607.0, "metro_p50": 107607.0, "metro_p75": 107607.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 117888.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "HRIS Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 76650.0, "metro_p50": 115555.0, "metro_p75": 125449.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 97554.8, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "HR Coordinator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 43680.0, "metro_p50": 55000.0, "metro_p75": 55000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 50000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Recruiter", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 50772.0, "metro_p50": 62919.0, "metro_p75": 73186.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 68167.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Payroll Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 46790.0, "metro_p50": 48500.0, "metro_p75": 53252.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 59855.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "wy-nonmetropolitan-area/human-resources/2026-09.html", "pdf": "wy-nonmetropolitan-area/human-resources/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T14:38:11.612117+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/wy-nonmetropolitan-area/human-resources/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/wy-nonmetropolitan-area/human-resources/2026-09.pdf"}