Race Day Live (Frankfort, KY) – Unemployment in Kentucky increases despite the addition of new jobs in the state.
In December, Kentucky saw a gradual rise in its unemployment rate, despite an increase in the number of residents securing jobs during that time.
The 5.2% rate exceeded November’s figure by a tenth of a point, as reported by the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet’s Kentucky Center for Statistics. This marks an increase of almost 21% compared to the unemployment rate of 4.3% recorded in December 2023.
“Throughout the past year, both the number of people employed and the number of people in the labor force in Kentucky have increased,” said Mike Clark, the director of the University of Kentucky Center for Business and Economic Research, in a statement. “Since workers are entering the labor force faster than they are finding jobs.”
The civilian labor pool in Kentucky reached a total of 2,085,059, showing an increase of over 5,000 individuals from November to December, as reported in the release. In the final month of 2024, the state saw an increase of 1,973 jobs, bringing the total workforce to 1,976,436 individuals. The count of individuals classified as unemployed increased by 3,065, reaching a total of 108,623.
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In December, the national unemployment rate stood at 4.1%, a slight decrease from the 4.2% reported by the U.S. Department of Labor for November.
Despite a rise in Kentucky’s unemployment rate in recent months, there has also been an increase in the state’s labor participation rate. This rate, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, represents the total number of employed and unemployed individuals relative to the state’s civilian population of working age. The BLS categorizes individuals as unemployed if they are not engaged in work but have actively pursued job opportunities within the last month.
In November, Kentucky’s workforce participation rate reached 58.2%, an increase from 56.9% in December 2023. In comparison to several surrounding states, Kentucky’s rate for November is notably less than that of Indiana (63.4%), Ohio (62.6%), and Tennessee (59.4%). It still surpasses West Virginia’s 54.9%.
KYSTATS has unveiled federal data indicating that employment in the state, not counting the self-employed and agricultural workers, increased by 28,700, which represents a 1.4% rise over the last year.
Clark noted that job numbers rose in 10 of the last 12 months, with eight out of 11 business sectors experiencing year-over-year growth.
In the past year, the state has experienced a rise of 4,300 in construction jobs. That’s an increase of 4.8% compared to December 2023. Despite a loss of 700 jobs in the educational and health services sector between November and December, those businesses managed to create 16,500 jobs from December 2023 to December 2024.
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