FRANKFORT, Ky. — There’s good news and bad news in Kentucky's post-recession job market, according to a new report from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

On the upside, research indicated workers have experienced real wage growth, top to bottom, for the first time in 15 years. On the downside, job growth isn't keeping up with population growth, said Anna Baumann, policy analyst with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy and the report's main author.

"On the more concerning side of things, our unemployment rate doesn't count the workers who have been discouraged because they haven't been able to find jobs, and good jobs, and have left the labor force,” Baumann said.

The state's unemployment rate is now below pre-recession levels, but Baumann said Kentucky still has a long way to go to catch up with where it was in 2000, when the nation was near full employment.

According to the report, if the same share of working-age Kentuckians - ages 25 to 54 - were employed today, an additional 118,000 people would have jobs.

The report found the industry with the most growth since the economic recovery began was temporary or employment-service jobs.

"Those jobs don't pay well, and there's no job security for workers,” Baumann said. "With so many of the jobs that are being created not requiring a higher education and paying low wages, we need to be thinking about how to support those workers."

She saif that support includes raising the minimum wage.

The report also found the health of the job market varies widely by region. Baumann said almost all the growth has been between Louisville, Lexington and Northern Kentucky - the area known as the "Golden Triangle."

"One bright spot is that we've had good growth in the manufacturing sector,” she said, "especially auto manufacturing, and we know those jobs pay pretty well."





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Pennsylvania's wage growth has rebounded from pre-pandemic lows and now exceeds the national average, according to the latest "Pennsylvania Workforce Trends" report.

The data show average hourly earnings for nonsupervisory workers grew almost 4% between 2019 and this year. Pay grew even faster among low-wage workers, at 9.2% in Pennsylvania, but not as much as the U.S. average of more than 13%.

Carrie Amann, executive director of the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association, said despite the wage increases, Pennsylvanians are well aware the cost of living has also been on the uptick.

"Employers are, in fact, paying their workers more in certain occupations and certain percentiles of workers," Amann reported. "We've seen significant increases -- I think, almost 10% wage increases -- in what we would typically call low-wage workers."

The report showed the national average pay increase for low-wage workers is higher than in Pennsylvania because more states have increased their minimum wage above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Pennsylvania has not done so, despite neighboring states like West Virginia setting their minimum wage at $8.75 an hour, and New York at $15 an hour.

Among the Pennsylvania Local Workforce Development Areas, 15 of 22 saw increased weekly wages from the first quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2023. Amann emphasized the significance of local wage-growth data. She cited Lancaster as an example, due in part to the cost of living and workforce supply and demand.

"We do see disparities and differences between Lancaster -- who is having an average weekly wage growth of 6.3% over the last 2019 through 2023 -- compared to Philadelphia and others, who are seeing wage declines," Amann noted.

Amann added her organization partners closely with the United Way of Pennsylvania on its advocacy efforts around workers in the category known as "ALICE," which stands for Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed. She emphasized 28% of working Pennsylvanians struggle to survive.


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Washington home caregivers are negotiating with the state on wages and benefits. The caregivers' union, SEIU 775, is in talks with the Consumer Direct Care Network of Washington through the Consumer Directed Employer Rate Setting Board.

Nelly Prieto, a caregiver and executive board member for SEIU 775, said home care workers are struggling with the cost of living and inflation, which is compounded when they struggle to get 40 hours of work.

"If we don't have that then whatever we're getting paid, it's hard for us to survive on something like that," she explained.

SEIU 775 is looking to ensure wages of at least $25 per hour, continued affordable health coverage even when a caregiver's hours vary month to month, an increase in retirement benefits, and more paid time off and mileage reimbursement. The Consumer Directed Employer Rate Setting Board's next meeting is Monday.

Recruitment and retention of caregivers is among the union's biggest issues.

"If they don't get paid enough, well of course they're going to go ahead and look for something different, and it's always a big turnover," Prieto said.

Prieto added that caregivers are invested in their jobs and ensuring they provide their clients the care they need.

"Just because we love our clients and we want to continue doing this work, it doesn't mean that we don't deserve to have a dignifying living ourselves for our families and for us, to make sure that we take care of ourselves," Prieto added.

Starting next year, Michigan employers will need to pay workers more than $12 an hour, following a landmark ruling from the state Supreme Court.

The 4-to-3 decision reignited Michigan's 2018 ballot initiatives on the minimum wage and paid sick leave.

The wage will be $10 per hour, plus an adjustment for inflation since 2018. The ruling should mean higher pay for more than 800,000 workers in Michigan, including a 48% increase for tipped workers.

Saru Jayaraman, president of the advocacy group One Fair Wage, said her organization has been working for more than a decade to see this change in Michigan.

"By 2028, 1.2 million workers will get a raise," Jayaraman pointed out. "But it also means that Michigan becomes the first state in 40 years, and the first state east of the Mississippi, to end the subminimum wage for tipped workers, which is a direct legacy of slavery."

The head of Michigan's Restaurant and Lodging Association called the court decision "tone-deaf" In a statement, Justin Winslow said 40% of full-service restaurants in Michigan are already unprofitable and predicted the decision could force more of them to close permanently, eliminating up to 60,000 jobs.

However, other states are following suit. Jayaraman pointed out states with pending legislation to raise their minimum wages include Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and Ohio.

"In total, we actually have this moving right now in a dozen states around the country," Jayaraman observed. "But Michigan is the first, the first to go."

The ruling also paves the way for extensive changes in worker compensation and benefits in Michigan. Those will not take effect until late February next year. In the meantime, Jayaraman added her group is also advocating for an increase in the federal minimum wage, which has been $7.25 an hour since 2009.


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