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Kentucky's Unemployment Rate Remains Steady

Kentucky’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent in January and has fallen below the national jobless rate, state officials announced Thursday.

While the national unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in January, Kentucky's jobless rate has been below the national rate for the past six months, said Manoj Shanker, an economist with the state Office of Employment and Training.

“And to put it in perspective, the last time we had such a run of good luck was 1995," he said.

State officials said Kentucky's manufacturing sector surged by 2,800 jobs in January this year. Since January 2014, manufacturing employment has jumped by 9,000 jobs.

“Central Kentucky has really been doing well in manufacturing and it is in the area of durable goods, which includes not just machinery for making things but also consumer goods. And the big driver has been both Ford and the Toyota plants," said Shanker.