From the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: The State of Working Kentucky 2024
By JASON BAILEY and DUSTIN PUGEL
The state of working Kentucky in 2024 includes good news on jobs but within the context of longstanding economic challenges and persistent pressures on household budgets. A rapid economic recovery has generated strong consumer demand and tightened the labor market, resulting in increased real wages at the bottom for the first time in decades. Federal investments are spurring job growth in construction, creating opportunities in clean energy and setting the stage for a potential upswing in manufacturing. The tight labor market is helping spur increased union activity, with stirrings of new organizing and labor actions, along with successful bargaining campaigns in Kentucky over the last two years.