May 2009 unemployment figures announced. Here are the numbers for West Virginia:
LABOR FORCE DATA LABOR FORCE DATA
NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED
Table 1. Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and metropolitan area
(Numbers in thousands)
Unemployed
Civilian labor force
State and area Number Percent of labor force
April May April May April May
2008 2009 2008 2009p 2008 2009 2008 2009p 2008 2009 2008 2009p
West Virginia........................... 810.1 793.0 813.2 796.0 33.6 62.8 33.9 67.7 4.1 7.9 4.2 8.5
Charleston............................ 140.7 137.2 140.6 137.5 5.0 9.4 5.0 10.3 3.6 6.9 3.6 7.5
Huntington-Ashland.................... 132.2 131.4 132.3 132.4 5.8 9.7 6.5 10.6 4.4 7.4 4.9 8.0
Morgantown............................ 63.7 62.2 64.6 62.5 1.8 3.1 1.9 3.4 2.8 4.9 2.9 5.4
Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna........... 79.6 79.4 79.8 79.5 3.6 7.4 3.7 7.5 4.5 9.3 4.7 9.5
Wheeling.............................. 69.0 68.6 69.0 68.5 3.3 5.9 3.3 5.9 4.8 8.6 4.8 8.6
For all of West Virginia, 3,000 people joined the civilian labor force (May 2009 projected of 796,000 less April 2009 of 793,000) and the number unemployed rose 4,900 from 62,800 to 67,700.
Charleston (+ 0.6%), Huntington-Ashland (+ 0.6%) and Morgantown (+ 0.5%) all saw large single-month increases in unemployment--pacing the state overall gain of 0.6% to 8.5% unemployment.
The already hard-hit areas of Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna (0.2%) and Wheeling (unchanged) saw relatively small changes in unemployment compared to the rest of the state. |