Uptick in jobless

Russell County recently experienced a slight uptick in unemployment, a report said.

Last week, the Kentucky Center for Statistics (KYSTATS), an agency within the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet, released the latest jobless rates which revealed Russell County has a 6.2 percent unemployment rate-up slightly over July’s figure of six percent.

Unemployment rates rose in all 120 counties between August 2023 and August 2024, the report said.

Cumberland County recorded the lowest jobless rate in the commonwealth at 3.9 percent.

Magoffin County recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate at 11.3 percent.

Unemployment rates and employment levels for Kentucky counties are not seasonally adjusted because of small sample sizes.

Employment statistics undergo fluctuations due to seasonal events such as weather changes, harvests, holidays, and school openings and closings.

“Seasonal” adjustments eliminate influences-which make it easier to observe statistical trends.

The comparable, unadjusted unemployment rate for the state was 5.1 percent for August 2024, and 4.4 percent for the nation.

At this time last year, Russell County recorded a 4.8 percent jobless rate.

Unemployment statistics are based on estimates and are compiled to measure trends rather than actually to count people working.

Civilian labor force statistics include non-military workers and unemployed Kentuckians who are actively seeking work.

They do not include unemployed Kentuckians who have not looked for employment within the past four weeks.

The data should only be compared to the same month in previous years.

 

*Information provided by Mike Clark/Kim Saylor Brannock