The good & the bad

Good news and bad news for West Virginia:

$5 million in federal funding will be used to repair state roads after Winter Storm Thor damage in March.

U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., made the announcement.

The funds go to the West Virginia Department of Transportation from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

The bad news?

West Virginia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 6.1% to 6.6% in March – up in 27 counties, went down in 17 and the same in the other counties.

Calhoun County at 15.9% is the worse, with McDowell at 15.4% and Roane at 14.4% next in the wrong line.

Jefferson County had the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 4.8%,  followed by Monongalia at 5%, Pendleton at 5.8% and Berkeley at 5.9% on the good side of the ledger.

West Virginia trails badly in employment %

West Virginia’s unemployment rate is 6.6%, much higher than the national average of 5.8%, which is the best in six years.

Employees added 214,000 jobs, putting America on track for its best year since 1999.

The bad news: Median family income in the U.S. has fallen to 1995 levels. In other words, workers are no better off than they were two decades ago.

Ohio’s unemployment rate is 5.6%, slightly better than the national percentage. Georgia is the worst, at 7.9%.