Mountain State Spotlight, Beckley Register-Herald - It was October 2020. And with each passing day, the COVID-19 pandemic escalated. Read the full article. West Virginians’ suffering extended beyond sickness and death. The virus had dealt a powerful economic blow, with many state residents struggling to meet their basic needs. With the coming winter, that struggle…
Economy
Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the overall year-over-year inflation rate in October was 6.2 percent, a notably high rate. While there are many reasons to believe that inflation will ease in the coming months, some, including West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, are arguing that current high rates of inflation are not…
It's Halloween week -- time to get spooky! Who needs ghost stories when you have spine-tingling bars and trend lines? Here are five ghoulish charts about West Virginia in 2021 that will make your bones rattle and your blood curdle. At the beginning of the pandemic, West Virginia lost an unprecedented 101,000 jobs as total…
This blog post, co-authored by the Keystone Research Center's executive director Stephen Herzenberg and the WVCBP’s senior policy analyst Sean O'Leary, was originally published by the ReImagine Appalachia coalition. West Virginia is at the center of the national political storm surrounding the need to invest in infrastructure, in families, and in combating climate change. Notably, West Virginia…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Last week was an eye-opener at the Legislature. Read the full article. Not because Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, compared vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany. Not because Sen. Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, got so upset with the shady, secret, closed-door backroom dealings going on that he blurted out a curse word on the Senate floor.
Charleston Gazette-Mail - West Virginia’s COVID-19 death toll reached 4,219 Wednesday, including 2,878 deaths of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals since vaccines became available, a point state coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh drove home during the state COVID-19 briefing. Read the full article. Since COVID-19 vaccines became available last December, the virus has killed 3,102…
Associated Press, Opera News - West Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.6 in September, the lowest rate since August 2008. Read the full article. Total unemployment grew 1,200 over the month and the number of unemployed state residents dropped by 2,100 to 36,000, WorkForce West Virginia said in…
Huntington Herald-Dispatch - West Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.6 in September, the lowest rate since August 2008. Read the full article. Total unemployment grew 1,200 over the month and the number of unemployed state residents dropped by 2,100 to 36,000, WorkForce West Virginia said in a statement.…
Yahoo News - An Illinois Democrat has been criticized after dismissing West Virginia’s economy as “irrelevant" to his party's key climate policy in the social spending package. Read the full article. The Clean Electricity Performance Program would reward utilities that adopt renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels, penalizing utilities that do not make the transition. The…
Jackson Newspapers - Patricia Kelly, owner of Precious Memories Kid Care, said it's always been difficult finding childcare employees, but the pandemic has made it worse. Read the full article. COVID-19 caused several of Patricia Kelly's childcare employees to leave. For some, they quit out of caution to stay safe and healthy, others were terminated because…