CALHOUN KNOCKED FROM TOP OF LIST - New Unemployment Model Suggested

(09/24/2002)

By Bob Weaver Calhoun has been bumped from its #1 slot for having the most unemployed in West Virginia. Mason County has held the honor for four months. Mason had a jobless rate of 15% for August. Calhoun came in third with a 12% unemployment rate, with Wirt at 14%. Most job watchers know that once an unemployed person is dropped from the unemployment benefit roster, that person is no longer counted in the stats. McDowell, Lincoln and Mingo had double-digit unemployment. The winners with almost everyone working, Morgan and Monongalia Counties with 2.5%. In 31 counties high employment is maintained by the local school board, government positions and a health care facility (provided there is one). There must be an axiom that says "You cannot be unemployed if there are no jobs which would allow employment." If this be the case, and it seems to be part of the continued slide, we would suggest the Department of Employment Security refine their statistical model and improve the unemployment statistics immediately. Calhoun could then become the county with the brightest employment figures. We could rest well at night reflecting on these glowing reports about the economy in West Virginia.

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