Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate for November 2016 was 4.8 percent from a revised 5.1 percent in October 2016, according to the Office of Employment and Training (OET), an agency of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.

The preliminary November 2016 jobless rate was 0.8 percentage points lower than the 5.6 percent rate recorded for the state in November 2015.

The U.S. seasonally adjusted jobless rate for November 2016 was 4.6 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Labor force statistics, including the unemployment rate, are based on estimates from the Current Population Survey of households. It is designed to measure trends rather than to count the actual number of people working. It includes jobs in agriculture and those classified as self-employed.

In November 2016, Kentucky’s civilian labor force was 2,004,568, an increase of 7,365 individuals compared to the previous month. Employment was up by 12,437, and the number of unemployed decreased by 5,072.

“In November, our labor force increased by .4 percent,” said Kentucky Labor Market Information Director Kate Shirley Akers, Ph.D. “Over the last year, Kentucky has seen growth in both the labor force and the number of employed, with the labor force growing by 2.8 percent and employment increasing by 3.7 percent.” Read More