Job Struggles Expected to Continue

West Virginia University researchers are forecasting continued high unemployment in West Virginia. The school recently released its annual West Virginia Economic Outlook report. Fueled by a decline in the coal industry, the state’s jobless rate in August was at 7.6 percent, the highest in the nation. Gains in the state’s oil and gas industry failed to offset job losses in the coal industry. The state unemployment rate is expected to remain at or above 7 percent through early 2016.