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Unemployment Drops Year-to-Year in 82 Kentucky Counties

Anna Bizo?, 123rf Stock Photo

Unemployment has fallen over the last year in around 68 percent of Kentucky’s 120 counties, according to the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training.

Unemployment dropped in 82 counties from August 2015 to August 2016, while jobless figures rose in 36 counties. Unemployment numbers stayed the same in Montgomery and Wayne counties.

The unemployment rate increased in half of the eight Jackson Purchase counties. Following the closure of the Verso paper mill in Wickliffe, Ballard County has by far the highest rate in the Purchase at 9.1 percent. A year ago, 8.3 percent were unemployed there. The jobless rate also rose year-to-year in Graves, McCracken and Marshall counties. Calloway County has the lowest rate in the region at 4.1 percent unemployed.

Woodford County had the lowest jobless rate statewide at just 3 percent, while Magoffin County recorded the highest rate at 16.2 percent unemployed.

For the statistics on all 120 counties, click here.

John Null is the host and creator of Left of the Dial. From 2013-2016, he also served as a reporter in the WKMS newsroom.
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