A state economist says Kentucky is on pace in the coming months to fully regain all the jobs lost during the Great Recession.
Economist Monoj Shanker said Thursday that Kentucky has regained 96 percent of the 122,100 jobs that were shed as a result of the deep economic downturn, and that a full pre-recession recovery is expected by year's end.
Shanker says nonfarm employment in Kentucky totaled 1,865,800 in August, up by 24,000 positions from a year ago. Last month's total is 4,800 jobs away from reaching the state's peak employment in January 2008 before job losses began mounting during the recession.
The state says last month's jobless rate in Kentucky dropped to 7.1 percent, down 1.3 percent from a year ago.
Kentucky's unemployment rate remains above the national rate.