WIRT HAS HIGHEST UNEMPLOYMENT IN STATE

(07/22/2003)

With national and international media flocking to Wirt County today, it will not likely be noted the county has the highest unemployment in West Virginia - 18.3%. High unemployment has been the norm for Wirt, Calhoun, Roane and other central West Virginia counties for years. After the attention brought to the area by former POW Jessica Lynch, the region will continue to be long-suffering. Having such records, now worse with a national recession, has grabbed little attention in the solution department. Most Appalachian counties with low populations like Wirt County (5,000) still lack the basic infrastructure that has driven the economy in most of America. The unemployment rate rose in 42 of West Virginia's 55 counties in June.

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