Kentucky’s Changing Labor Force Participation, Explained

With the economy now experiencing the longest recovery on record, there is a temptation among some to overstate the strength of the labor market and even cast blame on workers if they are not currently employed. Measures like the labor force participation rate are often misused to support those claims. But a close look at this measure shows a more nuanced story about Kentucky’s economy and the makeup of who is in, and more importantly who is not in, our labor force.