Kentucky Jobless Rate Up in February
Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate rose to 10.9 percent in February 2010 from a revised 10.7 percent in January 2010, according to the Office of Employment and Training (OET), an agency of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.
February 2010’s jobless rate is 1.3 percentage points higher than the 9.6 percent rate recorded in February 2009 for Kentucky. The 10.9 percent rate recorded in February 2010 matches the 10.9 percent rate in Kentucky in August 1982, and is the highest since September 1983 when the rate reached 11.1 percent.
“Kentucky’s economy continued to show signs of economic hardship in February 2010. The unemployment rate increased to 10.9 percent, and nonfarm employment dropped to its lowest level since April 1998. However, discouraged workers are starting to return to the labor force. This contributed to a surge in the civilian labor force, which compounded the rise in the unemployment rate,” said Dr. Justine Detzel, OET chief labor market analyst.
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