By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Barren County’s unemployment rate remained below 5 percent for May 2025.
The county had an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent, which is five-tenths of a percentage point lower than it was the previous year, but 0.2 percent higher than April.
There were 18,234 people in the labor force and 842 listed as unemployed, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics. Despite the slight increase, Barren County had an unemployment decrease of 294 people — April 2025 had 18,458 individuals in the labor force and 1,136 unemployed.
Due to the small sample size, the unemployment numbers are not seasonally adjusted. The numbers “undergo sharp fluctuations due to seasonal events such as weather changes, harvests, holidays, and school openings and closings,” which are accounted for when observing the seasonally adjusted numbers, the center stated.
“Seasonal adjustments eliminate these influences and make it easier to observe statistical trends,” the center stated.
The statewide average was 4.4 percent and the national average for May 2025 was 4 percent, according to the center.
Unemployment statistics are based on estimates and are compiled to measure trends rather than actually to count people working. Civilian labor force statistics include non-military workers and unemployed Kentuckians who are actively seeking work. They do not include unemployed Kentuckians who have not looked for employment within the past four weeks.