The staged reopening of Kentucky’s economy appears to be paying off in fewer jobless claims, as the state experienced a drop of over 10,000 unemployment claims the final week of May.
There were 42,793 jobless claims for the week ending May 30, almost 11,000 fewer than the 53,738 claims the previous week.
In total, there has been more than 880,000 first-time unemployment claims filed since early March (when many businesses were shut down due to coronavirus concerns), representing about 40 percent of the state’s civilian labor force, the Herald-Leader reports.
Gov. Andy Beshear said the number of Kentuckians receiving food stamps has increased 22 percent since February.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April was 15.4 percent, the highest in decades, with Beshear previously saying the damage to the state’s budget will be ruinous without federal assistance.
Kentucky borrowed more than $900 million to pay unemployment claims during the 2008-09 recession, according to the Herald-Leader, when the state’s unemployment rate was considerably below the April 2020 rate.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
