Clark County Unemployment Reaches 14.3 Percent

Clark County Unemployment Reaches 14.3 Percent

Clark County’s unemployment rate topped 14 percent in June of 2009, and is at the highest rate since 1990, which is as far as the Bureau of Labor Statistics website’s database goes back.  Preliminary numbers for June showed 533 Clark County residents out of work, or 14.3 percent of the county’s workforce.
That rate is nearly triple the June 2008 unemployment rate of 5.8 percent, when 209 residents were looking for work.  The average unemployment rate for 2008 was 6.2 percent.
The outlook was a little better in surrounding counties.  Scotland County had a 12.8 percent unemployment rate for June.  A year ago that rate was 6.5, and the 2008 average was 6.7 percent.
Lewis County was a little better, with a 9.5 percent unemployment rate for June.  A year ago, only 4.8 percent were unemployed.
Knox County’s unemployment rate was only 6.2 percent in June., up from 4.9 percent one year ago
Statewide, the June 2009 rate climbed to 9.5 percent, up a third from the 6.1 percent in June 2008.  Missouri’s labor force is 3,052,784, and 2, 762, 514 were employed.  Missouri’s unemployment mirrored that of the nation in June.
   Michigan again reported the highest jobless rate, 15.2 percent, in June.  (The last state to have an unemployment rate of 15.0 percent or higher was West Virginia in March 1984.)  The states with the next highest rates were Rhode Island, 12.4 percent; Oregon, 12.2 percent; South Carolina, 12.1 percent; Nevada, 12.0 percent; California, 11.6 percent; Ohio, 11.1 percent; and North Carolina, 11.0 percent.  The Nevada, Rhode Island, and South Carolina rates were the highest on record for those states.  Florida, at 10.6 percent, Georgia, at 10.1 percent, and Delaware, at 8.4 percent, also posted series highs.  North Dakota registered the lowest unemployment rate in June, 4.2 percent.
Overall, 12 states and the District of Columbia had significantly higher jobless rates than the U.S. figure of 9.5 percent, 27 states reported measurably lower rates, and 11 states had rates little different from that of the nation. 
So far in 2009, 45 states experienced statistically significant changes in employment; 44 had decreases and 1 reported an increase.  The largest statistically significant job losses occurred in California (-766,300), Florida (-392,800), Michigan (-337,600), Ohio (-279,000), Illinois (-272,600), and Texas (-266,300).  The only statistically significant over-the-year employment increase occurred in North Dakota (+6,000).  Three states recorded statistically significant decreases in employment that were less than 15,000:  New Hampshire (-13,300), Vermont (-12,300), and Wyoming (-8,000).