EKB News

KENTUCKY...
Kentucky's unemployment rate has dropped to a 16-month low. The state Office of Employment and Training said Thursday that the jobless rate fell to 10 percent in June, down from a revised figure of 10.4 percent in May. Labor market analyst Justine Detzel said the state's lower rate is due to a decline in the civilian labor force. Detzel said some people who have been unemployed for a long time are becoming discouraged and dropping out of the labor force. The 10 percent statewide rate in June is the lowest since February 2009, when unemployment stood at 9.6 percent. Kentucky's jobles rate in June 2009 was 10.8 percent. Detzel said that in the past year, Kentucky's nonfarm employment has expanded by 26,500. That marks the second straight month that there's been a year-over-year increase in nonfarm employment.