FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP/WTVQ) – Nearly 70,000 Kentucky residents applied for unemployment benefits last week. It shows the coronavirus pandemic continues to inflict economic damage even as the state gradually reboots its economy.
The number of laid-off Kentucky workers seeking jobless assistance in the past eight weeks approached 750,000. That’s more than one-third of the state’s civilian workforce.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that 69,069 Kentuckians submitted new jobless claims last week. That was down more than 13,300 from the prior week, continuing a downward trend.
Across the country, nearly 3 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week as the viral outbreak led more companies to slash jobs even though most states have begun to let some businesses reopen under certain restrictions.
Roughly 36 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the two months since the coronavirus first forced millions of businesses to close their doors and shrink their workforces, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Still, the number of first-time applications has now declined for six straight weeks, suggesting that a dwindling number of companies are reducing their payrolls.
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