# Kentucky marks strong year with no counties exceeding 10% unemployment  
**Published:** 2026-05-18T14:00:59.000Z  
**Source:** [KY Education & Workforce Cabinet](https://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=EducationCabinet&prId=821)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/kentucky-marks-strong-year-with-no-counties-exceeding-10-unemployment

FRANKFORT, Ky. — [Kentucky reached a significant economic milestone in 2025](https://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=EducationCabinet&prId=821), with no county recording an unemployment rate at or above 10 percent, according to data released by the [Kentucky Center for Statistics](https://kystats.ky.gov/).

[The state's annual unemployment rate for 2025 was 4.6 percent](https://www.kaco.org/articles/kystats-46-unemployment-rate-for-kentucky-in-2025/), slightly higher than the national average of 4.3 percent but representing a positive trend across all 120 Kentucky counties. The achievement marks an improvement from earlier in the year when some Appalachian counties had struggled with higher jobless rates.

The strongest labor markets were concentrated in central Kentucky. [Woodford County recorded the lowest jobless rate in the commonwealth at 2.7 percent, followed by Shelby County at 2.8 percent](https://www.kaco.org/articles/state-releases-county-unemployment-data-for-december-2025/). [Fayette County, home to Lexington, posted a 2.9 percent unemployment rate](https://www.kaco.org/articles/state-releases-county-unemployment-data-for-december-2025/), reflecting the region's economic strength.

Economic challenges persisted in eastern Kentucky coal regions, though unemployment remained below the critical 10 percent threshold. [Magoffin County recorded the state's highest unemployment rate at 7.4 percent, followed by Lewis and Wolfe counties at 7.3 percent each](https://www.kaco.org/articles/state-releases-county-unemployment-data-for-december-2025/).

[The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated 2,018,309 employed Kentuckians for 2025](https://www.kaco.org/articles/kystats-46-unemployment-rate-for-kentucky-in-2025/), with approximately 97,280 unemployed. However, some sectors showed weakness, as [Kentucky's nonfarm average payroll employment decreased by 3,400 jobs in 2025](https://www.kaco.org/articles/kystats-46-unemployment-rate-for-kentucky-in-2025/), primarily driven by losses in manufacturing.

The Kentucky Center for Statistics, an agency of the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet, compiles unemployment data through federal surveys designed to measure labor market trends rather than provide exact counts of jobless workers. The data excludes those who have not actively sought employment within the past four weeks.

## Sources

- [KY Education & Workforce Cabinet](https://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=EducationCabinet&prId=821)
- [KACO article on 2025 annual unemployment rate of 4.6 percent](https://www.kaco.org/articles/kystats-46-unemployment-rate-for-kentucky-in-2025/)
- [KACO article on December 2025 county unemployment data](https://www.kaco.org/articles/state-releases-county-unemployment-data-for-december-2025/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from KY Education & Workforce Cabinet, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=EducationCabinet&prId=821.