News
Louisville Region’s Labor Market: 2024 Highlights
The regional economy showed signs of softening in 2024. Higher interest rates set by the Federal Reserve achieved their intended purpose of slowing the economy to reduce inflation. The economy entered the current turbulent policy environment from an already weakened position. It has been especially difficult for people entering the labor market, particularly among young workers. Let’s review how the regional economy performed in 2024.
How much does it cost to just get by in your community?
Many workers in low-wage jobs do not earn enough to meet their basic needs in the community in which they live. Researchers at MIT developed the Living Wage Calculator using current data and covering modern-day expenses, to provide communities with an understanding of how much it costs a full-time worker to meet their basic needs. The living wage is the minimum threshold needed to maintain economic self-sufficiency without the use of public assistance programs and without facing severe housing or food insecurity.
What’s in a name? Defining the Kentuckiana region
The KentuckianaWorks’ Labor Market Intelligence office focuses its coverage area on the Kentuckiana region, a 13-county footprint that reflects the service regions of Southern Indiana Works and KentuckianaWorks, and is recognized by the Department of Labor as a regional planning unit. Due to recent changes in metropolitan area definitions, this will now entail a subtle shift away from the Louisville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), a unit defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget.
The lasting impact of federal policy and discrimination on Black workers in the Louisville region
As we celebrate Black History Month and this year’s theme of African Americans and Labor, it’s important to call attention to the policies that limited Black workers’ access to quality employment in the past, and how the impact of those policies can still be seen in the unequal labor market outcomes across our region today.
Regional labor force participation is the same as the nation’s
The labor force participation rate is an important measure of economic performance. But what is labor force participation? And how does Kentuckiana stack up? Learn about this economic indicator and factors influencing labor market engagement in this new article.