A Small Step Forward for Recovery – After last month’s disappointing loss of 3,700 jobs, West Virginia added approximately 2,400 jobs in June, an above average month of job growth for 2011. The state has now gained 4,600 jobs in 2011, but still has 8,000 fewer jobs than at the beginning of the recession. West Virginia’s unemployment rate declined slightly to 8.5 percent. The unemployment rate is a full percentage point lower than at the start of 2011, but still remains twice as high as at the beginning of the recession. Read
