The U.S. Labor Department says nearly 91,000 Kentucky residents applied for unemployment benefits last week.
The total is down from the prior week. But it's a grim reminder that the coronavirus continues to inflict economic damage even as the governor rolls out plans to gradually kick start commerce. The number of laid-off Kentucky workers seeking jobless assistance in the past six weeks swelled to nearly 600,000. That's about 30% of the state’s civilian workforce.
The global pandemic has forced a cross-section of Kentucky employers to close their doors and slash their workforces.
