Kentucky’s jobless rate drops to 6.7 percent, biggest one-month drop since 1976

Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate dropped to its lowest rate in more than six years in September 2014 at 6.7 percent from a revised 7.1 percent in August 2014, according to the Office of Employment and Training, an agency of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.

It marks the single-biggest one-month drop in unemployment rates since 1976, when the current methodology for measuring the rate was adopted.

This is the lowest rate for the state since July 2008 when it was 6.6 percent, which was during to the financial crisis.

“A steep drop in unemployment combined with gains in hiring and consumer spending are clear indicators of a growing economy,” said economist Manoj Shanker of the OET. “All signs point to a robust recovery from the financial crisis in 2008.”

The preliminary September 2014 jobless rate was 1.6 percentage points below the 8.3 percent rate recorded for the state in September 2013.