Bell and Floyd counties saw coal jobs increase over the same period in 2018, but the gains weren't enough to overcome losses across Eastern Kentucky.
Coal jobs increased in Western Kentucky from a year earlier, but not enough to counter the big drop in Eastern Kentucky.
Statewide, coal-industry jobs were down 5.7 percent from a year earlier and 9.7 percent from the first quarter.
Employment from April 1 through June 30 averaged 5,942 for all of Kentucky.
The numbers sometimes change in subsequent reports because the state gets additional information.
For example, the initial estimate for the average number of jobs statewide in 2018 was 6,409. That number was since revised up to 6,443.
Coal production in Eastern Kentucky totaled 3.6 million tons in the second quarter, down 16.9 percent from the comparable period in 2018, but was up 2.6 percent in Western Kentucky.
Relatively cheap natural gas has
taken power-plant customers away from the coal industry in Kentucky and other states.
The industry also faced headwinds from proposals in the Obama Administration to beef up environmental standards and from other factors such as rising availability of renewable energy.
President Donald Trump vowed to revive the coal industry.
There has been growth nationwide under his watch, from 50,600 jobs in December 2016 to as many as 52,900 earlier this year, according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The preliminary figure for July edged down to 52,100.
Kentucky hasn't shared in the growth, however.
The number of coal jobs in the state averaged 6,609 in 2017, Trump's first year on the job, but slipped to 6,443 for 2018, then to 5,942 in the most recent quarter.
