A federal labor department report released Thursday shows higher than anticipated job creation for June across the U.S. State Economist Manoj Shanker is also seeing employment gains in many Kentucky counties. "Compared to a year ago, 111 counties out of 120 are doing better than they were a year ago,” says Shanker. “As the state economy improves, it's almost evenly split, except for some parts of eastern Kentucky.”
While the national economy shows what appears to be a complete employment recovery, Shanker says Kentucky has recovered only 82 percent of its jobs since 2007. "Part of the reason, of course, is the job loss in the mining and natural resources sector. The other part is our economy is not as diverse as other states," added Shanker.
He says states like California, Texas, and Florida have seen bigger job gains, but these states also took greater hits during the recession?
