Education Cabinet
Annual jobless rates higher in 72 counties than state’s annual 2005 jobless rate

EDITORS NOTE: 2005 county unemployment rate charts are posted at http://workforce.ky.gov/Ann05chart.pdf. Acrobat Reader is required to view charts. To download Acrobat Reader, please see the end of this news release.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Seventy-two Kentucky counties posted higher annual unemployment rates in 2005 than the state’s 2005 annual average of 6.1 percent, while 39 counties were below the state annual jobless level and nine counties were the same, according to the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training in the Education Cabinet.

In 2005, four counties had a jobless rate at or above 10 percent compared to three counties that recorded double-digit rates in 2005. Compared to 2004, 98 counties had higher unemployment rates in 2005, 17 counties recorded lower rates, and Ballard, Carlisle, Knox, Lawrence and Leslie counties had the same jobless rates in 2005 as in 2004.

Compared to the national 2005 annual average of 5.1 percent, 109 counties reported higher average annual rates, 10 counties had lower average annual rates and Spencer County had the same rate as the national average.

Woodford County’s 4.2 percent jobless rate was the lowest in the commonwealth. Other low rates were recorded in Fayette, Jessamine and Oldham counties, 4.6 percent each; Boone and Scott counties, 4.7 percent each; Anderson and Madison counties, 4.8 percent each; and Franklin and Warren counties, 4.9 percent each.

Magoffin County recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate — 12.3 percent. It was followed by Wolfe County, 10.6 percent; Graves County, 10.2 percent; Elliott County, 10 percent; Morgan County, 9.9 percent; Lewis County, 9.8 percent; Nicholas County, 9.7 percent; Clay County, 9.1 percent; McCreary County, 9 percent; Grayson County, 8.9 percent; and Muhlenberg County, 8.9 percent.  

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 statistics in this news release are not seasonally adjusted to allow for comparisons between United States, state and counties figures.

Learn more about the Office of Employment and Training at www.workforce.ky.gov.

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