UK Gatton College of Business and Economics
 

CBER in the News

Jobless numbers improve in Kentucky and nationwide

16 April 2021 - Tom Latek (Kentucky Today)

There were some possible signs of an improving economy on Thursday. Kentucky’s jobless rate in March declined from the previous month as did the number of jobless claims nationwide.

Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary March 2021 unemployment rate was 5%, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics, part of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.  That was down 0.2% from February, but up 0.8% from the 4.2% recorded for the state one year ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic really took hold with mass lay-offs.

Kentucky’s latest unemployment report indicates slow recovery, but many still face challenges

16 April 2021 - Northern Kentucky Tribune

Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary March 2021 unemployment rate was 5%, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics (KYSTATS).

The preliminary March 2021 jobless rate was down 0.2 percentage points from February 2021 and up 0.8 percentage points from the 4.2% recorded for the state one year ago.

The U.S. seasonally adjusted jobless rate for March 2021 was 6%, down from the 6.2% reported in February 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Fewer apartments being built, Census Bureau says

28 March 2021 - Keith Lawrence (Messenger-Inquirer)

The U.S. Census Bureau says the number of apartment units built in 2019 was roughly the same as the year before.

But the number dropped by 15,000 from 2017, when 294,800 were built.

Nationally, the report said, the median monthly rent in 2019 was $1,653.

That was about $100 higher than the median monthly rent of $1,519 in 2015.

• Speaking of apartments, the price tag on that Chandler Park sale was $35.4 million, according to a deed filed in the Daviess County Clerk’s office.

Jobless rate down, but number of jobs still thousands below February 2020

25 March 2021 - Steve Rogers (WTVQ)

Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary February 2021 unemployment rate was 5.2%, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics, an agency within the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.

The preliminary February 2021 jobless rate was down 0.1 percentage points from January 2021 and up 1% from the 4.2% recorded for the state one year ago.

The U.S. seasonally adjusted jobless rate for February 2021 was 6.2%, down from the 6.3% reported in January 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Anniversary of Breonna Taylor’s Death: Questions for Campus, Community

12 March 2021 - Jay Blanton (UKNow)

Last year, on March 13, an unarmed Breonna Taylor — a former UK student — was shot and killed by police in her Louisville apartment. The killing was widely decried as unjustified and unconscionable.

Along with a series of killings of other unarmed Black people in other American cities in the spring and summer of 2020, Taylor’s death sparked a year of social unrest, deep questioning about the depths of systemic racism, and potential and actual policy reforms, designed to hasten change on campus, in the Commonwealth and across the country.

State’s slow job gains continue in January, most sectors still down over the year

11 March 2021 - Steve Roger (WTVQ)

Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary January 2021 unemployment rate was 5.3%, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics, an agency within the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.

The preliminary January 2021 jobless rate was down 0.3 percentage points from December 2020 and up 1.2 percentage points from the 4.1% recorded for the state one year ago.

The U.S. seasonally adjusted jobless rate for January 2021 was 6.3%, down from the 6.7% reported in December 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

State jobless rate falls between December and January

11 March 2021 - Tom Latek (Kentucky Today)

Kentucky’s jobless rate fell between December and January, according to figures released by the state on Thursday.

Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary January 2021 unemployment rate was 5.3%, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics, an agency within the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.  That was down 0.3 percentage points from December 2020, but up 1.2 percentage points from the 4.1% recorded for the state one year ago, shortly before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ky. experts discuss possible impacts of next stimulus package

8 March 2021 - Monica Harkins (WTVQ)

Congress is expected to pass the latest stimulus package this week to help struggling Americans.

We talked to experts in Kentucky about what it could mean in the commonwealth.

“This has really been a very different situation than what we’ve seen historically,” Mike Clark, Ph.D., said.

Clark is University of Kentucky’s director of the Center for Business and Economic Research.

Kentucky’s 2020 annual unemployment rate increased to 6.6%

8 March 2021 - Steve Rogers (WTVQ)

Kentucky’s annual unemployment rate for 2020 was 6.6%, up from 4.1% in 2019, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics, an agency of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.

The U.S. annual unemployment rate jumped to 8.1% in 2020 from 3.7% in 2019.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ estimate of the number of employed Kentuckians for 2020 was 1,885,645. This figure was down 99,017 from the 1,984,662 employed in 2019.

Economic Impact: Kentucky's Workforce

23 February 2021 - Liz Carey (Business Lexington)

The COVID-19 pandemic will have far-reaching consequences for Kentucky’s workforce and economy, experts say, and those hit hardest will be the industries that take the longest to recover.