Unemployment is down in only one city in the US — it’s in Kentucky
As Americans continue to file a staggering number of unemployment claims, one Kentucky city is remarkably adding jobs.
Owensboro, Kentucky — situated in the western portion of the state along the Ohio River — is the only metropolitan area in the country to have decreased its year-over-year unemployment from June 2019 to June 2020.
Its unemployment rate was 4.4% in June 2019, and it’s now dipped to 4.2%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The national unemployment rate is 11.2%, which is up 3.8% from 2019, the federal bureau said.
Even City Manager Nate Pagan is in disbelief over Owensboro’s figures.
“Last month our unemployment rate was at 10% and, truthfully, I expected our unemployment rate to be at 5-6% this month,” Pagan told The Owensboro Times. “I saw how low our current unemployment rate was last week, and I was surprised.”
Owensboro has a population of around 60,000, making it the fourth-largest city in Kentucky. The federal bureau’s statistics include all of the country’s 389 cities with a population greater than 50,000.
Unforeseen unemployment across the country has occurred during a loss of business activity amid the coronavirus pandemic. As of Wednesday, there were 671 positive COVID-19 cases in Owensboro’s Daviess County, which is tied for sixth-most in the state, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
The city’s mayor, Tom Watson, said Owensboro’s major employers compete in industries that have mostly not been affected by the downturn in the economy, according to CNN Business. These include its hospital, Owensboro Health, bourbon makers Sazerac and O.Z. Tyler, and Unifirst, a workplace uniform company that makes personal protective equipment, the outlet reported.
Castlen Brake, President and CEO of Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, said a revitalization of the city’s downtown has also benefited its economy.
“During the last recession, our economic development team put a large amount of money in our downtown area kicked off by a $40 million grant from the federal government,” Brake told CNN Business. “The private development that’s occurred downtown because of that has really put us on the map as a community. I think we’ve just been lucky so far that the growth sectors in our community when the pandemic hit were still flourishing and thriving.”
A new WalletHub study found two other Kentucky cities have fared far better than others in regards to unemployment.
The website compared 180 cities on changes in unemployment figures and found Lexington and Louisville have recovered better than any other cities. Lexington has an unemployment rate of 4.3% while Louisville’s is at 5.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Lexington had just a 4.11% rise in unemployment since June of last year and Louisville had a 7.05% rise, WalletHub found.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 2:59 PM.