Education Cabinet
Annual jobless rates lower in 80 Kentucky counties in 2006 compared to 2005

EDITORS NOTE: 2006 county unemployment rate charts are posted at http://workforce.ky.gov/Ann2006chart.pdf. Acrobat Reader is required to view charts. To download Acrobat Reader, please see the end of this news release.

FRANKFORT — Eighty Kentucky counties posted lower annual unemployment rates in 2006 than in 2005, while 29 counties were higher, and 11 counties were the same, according to the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training in the Kentucky Education Cabinet.

In 2006, three counties had a jobless rate at or above 10 percent, which is the same number of counties that recorded double-digit rates in 2005.

Woodford County’s 4.2 percent jobless rate was the lowest in the commonwealth. Other low rates also were recorded in Fayette, 4.3 percent; Boone, Franklin and Jessamine counties, 4.7 percent each; Gallatin, Madison, Scott and Warren counties, 4.8 percent each; and Bourbon, Kenton and Taylor counties, 4.9 percent each.

Magoffin County recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate — 10.3 percent. It was followed by McCreary County, 10.1 percent; Clay County, 10 percent; Jackson County, 9.7 percent; Todd and Wolfe counties, 9.6 percent each; Muhlenberg County, 9.2 percent; Leslie and Morgan counties, 8.8 percent each; and Owsley County, 8.5 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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