Unemployment figures are often looked to as a way to determine the status of a country, state, or even county’s economic engine. But, there can be wide fluctuation in rates.
For June, Woodford County recorded the lowest jobless rate at 3.6%, Magoffin County had the highest at 14.9. Going back to 1998, Woodford still had the lowest unemployment rate, but it was 1.1% and Nicholas County in 1995 saw 33.4% of its workforce unemployed. Those were the historic marks since 1990. Mike Clark is Assistant Director in UK’s Center for Business and Economic Research. “I think the unemployment rate is going to continue to be an important indicator of the state’s economic performance. But, it’s not the only one,” said Clark.
Clark says the number of jobs is another key economic indicator. And he says jobless rates for all counties do change, sometimes significantly, over time. The most recent state report showed unemployment rates fell in 115 Kentucky counties from June of 2017 to June of this year while they rose in five.
