CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Department of Employment says it paid out more than $161 million in unemployment benefits last year, the highest amount since 1982.

The department says more than 37,300 people lost their jobs in Wyoming in 2009 and collected unemployment insurance during the year. By the end of the year, more than 12,000 people had exhausted their regular unemployment benefits.

The largest increase in unemployment benefits resulted from lost jobs in the mining industry, up more than 340 percent compared to 2008.

Wyoming’s unemployment rate in December reached 7.5 percent. That was more than double the December, 2008, rate of 3.4 percent.