Power+ Plan for Appalachian Renewal
"Power+ Plan for Appalachian Renewal" By Parker Hobson
Jobs & The Economy
Missing Workers Problem Dampens Drop in Unemployment Rate
Kentucky’s economy has garnered headlines for the decline in the state’s unemployment rate, which fell sharply from 7.9 percent in December 2013 to just 5.7 percent in December 2014. However,...
Manufacturing is Still Crucial to Kentucky’s Economy, Workers
Despite steep job losses over the last two decades resulting largely from problematic trade policies and economic recession, manufacturing still plays a key role in Kentucky’s economy. A new report...
Low Road Economy No Path to Prosperity in Kentucky
The effort to pass a so-called right-to-work law in Kentucky has now moved to the local level with the first such ordinance passed in Warren County. While the proponents of...
Trade Deficit with China Has Cost 41,100 Kentucky Jobs, Many in Manufacturing
Kentucky has paid heavily for the U.S.’s growing trade deficit with China—41,100 fewer jobs between 2001 and 2013 according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Since...
Some Manufacturing Jobs Growing in Kentucky, but Not at Wages of Before
The recession hit Kentucky manufacturing jobs hard, with the state losing 48,800 or nearly 20 percent of its manufacturing employment between December 2007 and February 2010. In the last four...
Energy Future Contains Risks But Also Opportunities for Kentucky
KCEP Director Jason Bailey made the following remarks on the panel “EPA’s Carbon Pollution Rules and Kentucky” at the 2014 Governor’s Conference on Energy and the Environment: As we talk...
Don’t Pop the Champagne on a Job Recovery Just Yet
To glance at the recent headlines on jobs in Kentucky, you'd think things are really looking up. The latest monthly unemployment rate dropped from 7.4 percent to 7.1 percent. A...
The State of Working Kentucky 2014
More than five years after the recession officially ended, Kentucky workers still struggle with a scarcity of jobs and face continued declines in real wages, as outlined in KCEP’s new...
There’s Precedent for the Transition Assistance Eastern Kentucky Needs
The new power plant rules proposed this week will make coal less competitive in the coming decades. It's just one factor pointing toward continued decline in eastern Kentucky coal production,...