Jobless Rate Keeps Ticking Up

West Virginia’s unemployment rate has increased for five consecutive months, reaching the highest level in the nation in June. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased two-tenths of a percentage point in June to 7.4 percent, more than 2 full percentage points above the national average of 5.3 percent, according to Workforce West Virginia. That’s the worst among all 50 states. Unemployment in 46 of the state’s 55 counties increased in June. The hardest hit sectors last month were construction, mining and logging.