Unemployment unchanged from April, higher than a year ago

(The Center Square) – More people continue to enter the workforce in Kentucky.

However, data released Thursday by a state agency shows the unemployment rate for May remained unchanged from April and higher than it was a year ago.

According to the Kentucky Center for Statistics, the preliminary unemployment rate for May was 4.6%. That’s up from 4.1% in May 2023 and 4% two years ago.

Kentucky’s unemployment rate remains higher than the 4% national rate reported by the U.S. Department of Labor. That figure was up a tenth of a percentage point from April.

Excluding post-pandemic months, the last time Kentucky’s unemployment rate was this high occurred in September 2017, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

More than 6,600 people joined the state’s civilian workforce in May, according to the release. Mike Clark, the director for the University of Kentucky’s Center for Business and Economic Research, said in a statement that marks four consecutive months of growth in the labor pool.

“Even as more people join the workforce, we see more people finding jobs,” he noted. “This employment growth helped Kentucky’s unemployment rate hold steady.”

In all, the state’s civilian workforce, which includes both people ages 16 and older who are not in the military or institutionalized and currently employed or actively seeking work within the past month, reached 2,040,591 in May. The number of Kentuckians employed grew by more than 5,200 last month to 1,946,032, while the number of unemployed rose by more than 1,300 to 94,559.

The state’s labor pool is down roughly 12,000 people from the May 2023 totals released by KYSTATS, a state Education and Labor Cabinet department, a year ago.

KYSTATS also reported data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics showing Kentucky had monthly job gains in eight non-agricultural sectors. The largest increase – 900 jobs – occurred in trade, transportation and utilities. However, that figure was still down 2,000 positions from a year ago.

The leisure and hospitality sector grew by 700 jobs in May and is up by 3,400 slots from a year ago. Kentucky’s professional and business services workforce grew by 800 positions in May and up 200 from May 2023.

Clark said that professional and business sector jobs have increased through this year after dropping during most of 2023.

“The gains were primarily in administrative, support and waste management subsector, which might reflect an increased use of temporary workers,” he said.

Three job sectors had marginal job losses from April to May, with the largest (200 jobs) coming in manufacturing. However, on a year-to-year basis, the state has lost 1,800 manufacturing jobs, a .7% decrease from May 2023.