Kentucky’s annual unemployment rate decreased to 5.5 percent in 2007 from 5.8 percent in 2006, while gaining 22,200 jobs and posting the highest number of nonfarm jobs in Kentucky’s history, according to the Kentucky Department for Workforce Investment.
The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 4.6 percent in 2007, making it the lowest annual U.S. unemployment rate since 2000, when it was 4 percent.
“This is the fourth consecutive year of job growth in Kentucky,” said Justine Detzel, chief labor market analyst in the Office of Employment and Training. “In the last decade, we have added a net total of 116,200 nonfarm jobs. In addition, the 2007 annual unemployment rate of 5.5 percent is the lowest in Kentucky since 2001 when it was 5.2 percent.”
On the down side, the manufacturing sector lost 5,000 jobs in 2007 for a total of 255,700 positions in that sector. In the last 10 years, the manufacturing sector has reported 50,800 fewer jobs.
There has also been a significant drop in the nondurable good subsector. “Most of the job losses in the nondurable goods subsector occurred in the apparel industry, which has declined by 13,200 jobs over the past 10 years,” Detzel said. “Overall, there has been a 76 percent drop in the total number of apparel industry jobs in Kentucky in the last 10 years.”
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