FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky’s unemployment rate surged to 15.4% in April, a double-digit increase from the prior month as the coronavirus outbreak shuttered broad segments of the economy.
Staggering job losses tied to efforts to contain the virus caused the preliminary April jobless rate to jump 10.2 percentage points above the prior month, the Kentucky Center for Statistics said Thursday. Last month’s rate was 11.1 percentage points higher than the April 2019 rate, it said.
The new report fleshed out the portrait of economic devastation caused by the public health crisis.
Gov Andy Beshear has begun gradually lifting restrictions that caused widespread business shutdowns as economic activity resumes after a deep plunge in commerce.
In a more recent snapshot of the troubled labor market, the number of laid-off Kentucky workers seeking assistance continued to decline last week, when about 47,000 people applied for jobless benefits, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. That could be a sign that the scope of the devastation is beginning to reach its limits, but it also likely reflects that Kentuckians who are now out of work had already applied for assistance.
The latest round of filings for jobless aid was the lowest in two months, when the surge in Kentucky’s unemployment claims was in its early stages amid the global pandemic. Last week’s total was down more than 22,000 from the prior week.
But damage to Kentucky’s workforce continued mounting. The number of people seeking jobless assistance approached 800,000 in the past nine weeks as the virus afflicted the economy.
As a result, Kentucky has processed an unprecedented number of unemployment insurance claims. Beshear said recently that the state has enough in its unemployment insurance trust fund until summer but will eventually need a cash infusion to meet demand for benefits. A new relief package that includes some assistance for states has passed the House but is stalled in the U.S. Senate.
Kentucky’s economy is starting to reboot. Last week, reopenings occurred in manufacturing and construction and at office-based businesses, pet grooming and photography businesses. Auto and boat dealerships relaunched in-person service. Non-essential retail businesses reopened Wednesday. Restaurants can reopen dining rooms Friday at 33% capacity.
Jeffrey Siler, 61, is still finds himself on the sidelines, waiting to get called back to work as a waiter.
The restaurant he worked at in Danville is about to restart in-person service, but only a limited crew is needed now because of the reduced seating capacity, he said Thursday. More waiters will be called back once it’s allowed to ramp up capacity, he was told by one of the restaurant’s owners.
“I’ll be back to work eventually,” Siler said. “But I don’t know when. And he doesn’t know when.”
Thanks to his jobless benefits — including the extra $600 weekly payment stemming from an infusion of federal aid — he’s caught up on his rent. He’s able to afford his Internet service, which allows him to search for jobs, and has paid household expenses and trimmed his credit card debt.
He hasn’t waited tables since mid-March, and he’s ready to get back to work, he said.
“I’ve been a people person my whole life,” Siler said. “Feeding people has been something that always makes me feel good in my heart.”
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up within weeks. For some, especially older adults and those with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, even death.
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