By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
The Kentucky Center for Statistics, an agency within the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet, recently released its seasonally unadjusted unemployment figures for the month of August.
Compared to Aug. 2023, which the agency states is the most valid way of comparison, Barren County’s unemployment percentage rose from 4.4 percent to 5.5 percent. Based on these figures, Barren County is fourth of a percentage point higher than the statewide unemployment figure of 5.1 percent — although in the preliminary seasonally adjusted state numbers that figure was 4.8 percent — and 1.1 percentage points higher than the United States rate at 4.4 percent.
The ten-county region of the Barren River area had an unemployment of 5.1 percent.
Though it is most appropriate to compare this year’s unemployment with that of last year’s, Barren County was at 5.5 percent in July 2024 and 5.3 percent in June 2024.
As previously stated these figures are not seasonally adjusted, which can fluctuate based “due to seasonal events such as weather changes, harvests, holidays, and school openings and closings” and seasonal adjustment removes these variables making it easier to observe statistical trends.
According to the agency, the center stated that “unemployment statistics are based on estimates and are compiled to measure trends rather than actually to count people working.” It further states the statistics include non-military workers and those actively seeking work, but does not include unemployed Kentuckians who have not looked for work “within the past four weeks.”
Overall, the agency reported that unemployment rose in all of Kentucky’s 120 counties between Aug. 2023 and Aug. 2024.
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