Kentucky’s annual unemployment rate dropped to 4.3 percent in 2018 from 4.9 percent in 2017, marking the lowest jobless rate since 2000.
Nonfarm employment gained 10,500 jobs, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics. The U.S. annual unemployment rate dropped to 3.9 percent in 2018 from 4.4 percent in 2017.
The number of unemployed Kentuckians for 2018 was 89,310, down 11,415 from the 100,725 unemployed in 2017. There were 40,745 fewer individuals unemployed in 2018 than 10 years ago, when the economy was in recession.
Kentucky’s unemployment rate for 2018 was higher than 38 states and lower than nine states. Kentucky’s rate was tied with Illinois and Pennsylvania. Alaska had the highest unemployment rate in 2018 at 6.6 percent, while Hawaii had the lowest rate at 2.4 percent. Among its surrounding states, Kentucky’s unemployment rate was lower than Ohio and West Virginia, higher than Indiana, Missouri, Virginia and Tennessee, and the same as Illinois.