Kentucky’s annual unemployment rate plunged to 6.5 percent in 2014 from 8 percent in 2013 – the lowest annual jobless rate for the state since 2008 when it was a pre-recession 6.4 percent.
“Kentucky’s labor market has finally brushed off the last remaining drag from the Great Recession,” said economist Manoj Shanker of the state’s Office of Employment and Training.
The U.S. annual unemployment rate fell to 6.2 percent in 2014 from 7.4 percent in 2013. Annual unemployment rates declined in all 50 states in 2014 compared to 2013. The lowest rates were in North Dakota, 2.8 percent, and Nebraska, 3.3 percent. Mississippi, Nevada and the District of Columbia tied with the highest rate of 7.8 percent.
Kentucky had the 17th highest annual unemployment rate among all states and the District of Columbia in 2014. Kentucky was one of 22 states, including the District of Columbia, with annual unemployment rates above the U.S. annual rate in 2014. Four contiguous states, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio and Virginia, had unemployment rates lower than the national average. The other three, Illinois, Tennessee and West Virginia, had unemployment rates higher than the U.S. average.
“It’s worth noting that Kentucky saw an improvement in the unemployment rate that has continued into 2015. The annual revisions which align data for the past year were released last week and revealed that Kentucky’s unemployment rate has been below the national rate for the last six months,” Shanker said. “That’s quite an accomplishment. The last time Kentucky’s unemployment rate was below the national average for such an extended period was in 1995.”
Labor force statistics, including the unemployment rate, are based on surveys designed to measure trends. In a separate federal survey of business establishments that excludes jobs in agriculture and people who are self-employed, Kentucky’s nonfarm payroll in 2014 increased by 29,000, or 1.6 percent, to 1,858,900 employees, making it the highest number of nonfarm jobs in Kentucky since 2007 when Kentucky’s nonfarm employment peaked at 1,866,700.
Nonfarm data is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Employment Statistics program. According to this survey, seven of Kentucky’s 11 major nonfarm job sectors listed in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) showed employment growth in 2014, while three reported losses and one stayed the same.
From Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet