Kentucky Annual Economic Report 2021

This report is one of the important ways that the Center for Business and Economic Research fulfills its mission to examine various aspects of Kentucky’s economy as directed by the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS 164.738). The analysis and data presented here cover a variety of topics that range from a discussion of Kentucky’s current economic climate to a broad presentation of factors affecting the economy. The report covers numerous dimensions of Kentucky’s economy and COVID-19’s effects are evident across many of these dimensions. The pandemic brought the longest running economic expansion to an abrupt end. By April, Kentucky’s employment declined by 325,100 jobs compared to January. These job losses had wide ranging implications such as widening the racial employment gap; reducing families’ ability to pay for housing; increasing reliance on social programs; and reducing child-care options for working parents. As of October, the state had recovered 67 percent of jobs lost during the first months of the recession, but the recovery remains far from complete. Kentucky’s employment was still down 107,600 jobs, or 5.5 percent, from January