State releases annual unemployment rates for Kentucky counties

Increases in unemployment as well as increases in the number of people working were seen across the Lincoln Trail District in 2024.

The Kentucky Center for Statistics says annual unemployment rates increased in all 120 of Kentucky’s counties in 2024.

The statewide annual unemployment rate for Kentucky in 2024 was 5.1 percent. That was also the reported annual average for the Lincoln Trail District, and four of the eight counties in the district had annual rates lower than the statewide rate.

Breckinridge and Grayson counties had the highest annual unemployment rates in the district at 5.8 percent. Washington County had the lowest rate in the district, and tied for the third-lowest in the state, at 4.2 percent.

Hardin County’s annual unemployment rate for 2024 was 5.2 percent. That’s up from 2023’s annual rate of 4.3 percent.

The Center for Statistics says: “The increased unemployment rates across Kentucky’s counties were often due to people entering the labor force rather than people losing jobs. While the annual unemployment rate increased in all counties, the number of people employed increased in 91 counties.” This was the case in all of the Lincoln Trail counties except for Grayson, which saw a decrease of 55 workers.

Learn more about unemployment and other labor market information at kystats.ky.gov.