The latest Kentucky unemployment report shows the state’s jobless rate at the lowest it’s been in 14 years.
The Commonwealth’s Office of Employment and Training says the preliminary October rate is at 4.9 percent, down 0.7 percent from 5.6 in October 2014. The last time the jobless rate was so low was May 2001. The national jobless rate for October is 5 percent.
State economist Manoj Shanker says unemployment rates that hover at or below 5 percent mean strong upward pressure on wages. According to Shanker, average weekly wages have increased by almost 5 points during 2015, more than twice as fast as the national average.
