As of the end of November, Kentucky had added 35,000 new jobs in 2012. Companies operating in Kentucky are cautiously hiring more workers as the state comes out of the recession.
Kentucky’s unemployment rate this year dropped below nine percent for the first time in three years. Office of Employment and Training economist Manoj Shanker says many industries, including the manufacturing sector, are hiring employees on temporary contracts.
“They’re not sure how real and how strong the recovery is," explains Shanker. "In the case of Toyota, for example, they sell to our domestic market, but they also sell to South Korea and Canada. So they have to look to see what the market is like out there. Are they going to be hit by what’s happening in east Asia and Europe?”
Shanker says other industries, such as healthcare, are outsourcing some jobs to sub-contractors to save money on wages.