Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Matthew Getz is a server at the Osteria restaurant in Teton Village, and he’s collecting unemployment. 

Like many of the businesses surrounding Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, the high-end Italian eatery has temporarily shuttered during this transitional time before the ski season begins. Many of the smaller hotels and B&Bs, as well as some restaurants throughout the valley, will close their doors at some point between late October and early December, leaving some unsalaried employees without a source of income. 

Even some of the larger hotels that are part of luxury lodging chains like the Four Seasons and Amangani, for example, have gone dark for periodic upkeep and maintenance.  

While some valley workers use the off-season to travel or visit home, others, like Getz, have come to rely on state unemployment benefits to carry them through the ephemeral moment of life without labor.

This is not the first time Getz, who guides fly fishing in the summer, has received benefits from the state unemployment system. He first filed for unemployment benefits after his position with Cloudveil was relocated out of Jackson Hole, when the locally founded company was restructured earlier this year. 

“At first, I was very apprehensive about doing it,” he said. “I thought it was like welfare. But then when I learned more about collecting unemployment, that if you’re planning on sticking around here and intend to work again, it makes sense.”

Workers who are laid off – which employees of a business that temporarily shuts down technically are – can file a claim with the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, which has an office in Jackson. There, people filing for state unemployment benefits are connected through a direct phone line to a claims officer at the state’s Casper office.

Wyoming will dole out unemployment checks to qualified persons based on a complex formula that averages four of the last five fiscal quarters, according to various interviewees from within the state’s Workforce Services Department. The state caps unemployment benefits, however, at $415 per week, meaning a worker “who made a million dollars a year the past 10 years would still only get $415 a week” collecting unemployment benefits, one claims officer said. The state notifies a worker’s current or most recent employer to attain that employee’s working status. A worker who is fired for misconduct or tardiness might not qualify for unemployment benefits, or could qualify for benefits with other conditions. 

Wyoming requires individuals seeking unemployment to refile every two weeks, and will not mail checks out of the country, though some workers need only be available to return to work on short notice. 

Businesses help shoulder the costs of unemployment benefits through unemployment insurance with the state and pay more when employees receive those benefits. Gavin Fine, who co-owns Osteria as well as Q Roadhouse and Rendezvous Bistro, which will both remain open through the off-season, said the cost to his business in unemployment claims is noticeable, yet unavoidable in the valley’s seasonal visitor economy.

“It’s a lot of money, but it’s part of doing business in Jackson Hole,” Fine said. “It’s part of what it is to live in a roller coaster resort town.” 

Fine said he plans to keep Osteria’s lights on during future shoulder seasons, beginning after the upcoming winter season. 

Despite a cyclical local economy, Teton County reports among the lowest unemployment rates in Wyoming, where unemployment remains well below the country’s unemployment average. 

In September, the most recent month from which verifiable workforce data is available, Teton County reported 2-percent unemployment. Wyoming reported an unemployment rate of 2.6 percent across the state while the country saw unemployment above 6 percent, according to data from the state and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

For Teton County, that is a jump of one-half percent from the same time last year, but is not a significant increase, said Carola Cowan, a Wyoming-based research and planning supervisor with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

“It’s up a bit from last year, but 2 percent is still very low,” Cowan said. 

And November historically sees a peak in unemployment in Teton County, though April, the month when Jackson Hole Mountain Resort closes for the season, has seen the highest unemployment rates in recent years. Teton County posted an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent in November last year, though it dropped a full percentage point in December, and further down again in January. Previous years saw similar employment trends.

And while there is talk of other, non-seasonal local businesses already cutting down on jobs or scaling back on employee work hours amid troubling economic crisis, nationally, the valley’s only temporary employment placement office has not noticed a dramatic increase in unemployed workers looking for work.

“This time of year, we normally see people who already have [a job] lined up for the winter season,” said Chris Daly of Jackson Temp Services. “I’d say it’s pretty average with what we’ve seen in the past.” PJH