The Kentucky Chamber Center for Policy and Research released a new policy brief Tuesday highlighting last year’s increase in the state’s unemployment rate.
Kentucky’s unemployment rate increased almost a whole percentage point in 2024, rising from 4.3 percent in December 2023 to 5.2 percent one year later. While this rate is below Kentucky’s historical average, it marked the highest recorded rate since January 2016 (excluding the COVID-19 pandemic).
On top of this, December unemployment rates in all 120 counties were higher than they were a year ago.
The brief outlines that the key driver of rising unemployment in 2024 was an uptick in people joining the labor force and looking for work.
Some other key highlights from the brief include:
- Layoff numbers are low, meaning most employed adults are keeping their jobs, but unemployed adults looking for work are having a more difficult time getting hired than they were compared to 2022 or 2023.
- Kentucky’s story largely mirrors the so-called “Big Stay” trend shaping the national economy, in which adults with jobs are generally staying put.
- Current economic conditions appear stable—based on available data—but warrant careful decision-making by employers and policymakers, with an emphasis on pro-growth policy and stability.
Read the policy brief here.