By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
For the first time in 2025, Barren County’s unemployment has dropped below 5 percent.
The unemployment figures for April come from the Kentucky Center for Statistics, an agency within the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet, which lists Barren County’s unemployment at 4.4 percent, making it one of the 81 Kentucky counties that experienced a drop in unemployment percentages.
In April 2024, the unemployment percentage was 4.7 percent, according to the center. Last month the center announced Barren County’s number for March 2025 was 6.2 percent with 1,136 people categorized as unemployed and 18,458 individuals in the current labor force. Even though April to March is a 1.8 percent decrease, the center stated there are fewer people in the current labor force, 18,268 and fewer listed as unemployed, 811.
Due to the small sample size, the unemployment numbers are not seasonally adjusted. The numbers “undergo sharp fluctuations due to seasonal events such as weather changes, harvests, holidays, and school openings and closings,” which are accounted for when observing the seasonally adjusted numbers, the center stated.
“Seasonal adjustments eliminate these influences and make it easier to observe statistical trends,” the center stated.
The statewide average was also 4.4 percent while the national unemployment average was 3.9 percent.
“Unemployment statistics are based on estimates and are compiled to measure trends rather than actually to count people working,” the center stated. “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.”
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