U.S. Chamber of Commerce releases study: The Impact of State Employment Policies on Job Growth

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Workforce Freedom Institute recently released a study that evaluates the impact of state employment policies on job growth. The study, which was conducted by an outsourced consulting firm, created a comprehensive survey of all 50 states’ labor and employment policies in 2009 and established an Employment Regulation Index (ERI) to evaluate each state. The ERI summarizes the overall level of state labor and employment regulations for each state based on two key economic variables: the unemployment rate and new business formation. Based on that data, states were then sorted into one of three tiers: Tier 1 – Good, Tier 2 – Fair, and Tier 3 – Poor. Kentucky managed to earn a Tier 2 rating of Fair, with high marks for a relatively low amount of labor and employment litigation but negative marks for not being a right-to-work state and for high workers’ compensation premiums. Curious to see how Kentucky matches up to competing states? Click here to read the full report. For more information regarding the Chamber’s efforts to improve the business climate in Kentucky, visit our website at www.kychamber.com