Jobless rates drop in 49 of 55 counties

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Unemployment rates dropped in 49 of West Virginia’s 55 counties in July.

WorkForce West Virginia said jobless rates rose in five counties and remained steady in Webster County.

Pendleton County’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate of 5.3% was the lowest in the state, followed by Doddridge and Hampshire counties at 6.3%.

Mingo County had the highest unemployment rate at 18.2%. McDowell County was next at 16% and Calhoun County was at 15.7%.

West Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped six-tenths of a percentage point to 9.9% in July as thousands of workers were hired in the service-providing sector. The national rate was 10.2%.

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Kassie Simmons
Kassie Simmons joined the team in January 2019 as a weekend journalist. She graduated from Virginia Tech in just two and a half years with a BA in multimedia journalism. During her short time at Virginia Tech, she served as the editor for the university’s chapter of The Tab. Kassie was named the top reporter for The Tab at Virginia Tech on multiple occasions and made the list for the top 30 reporters for The Tab in the U.S. She also studied theater performance and minored in creative writing. Before coming to WOAY, Kassie interned at WSLS in Roanoke and the Tidewater Review in her hometown of West Point, Va. She has loved following breaking news since her childhood and has a passion for delivering the stories people care most about. Kassie is excited to be working in Southern West Virginia and looks forward to all the adventures ahead of her. You can follow her on Twitter at @KassieLSimmons and like her page on Facebook. If you have a story you think she should check out, send her an email at ksimmons@woay.com.