According to the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics, the state’s annual unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent in 2017, down from 5.1 percent the previous year. It was the lowest annual jobless rate recording for the state since 2000 when the rate was 4.2 percent. The number of unemployed Kentuckians decreased by 2, 819, and the civilian labor force rose by over 40,000. University of Kentucky’s Center for Business and Economic Research Director Chris Bollinger, PH.D., said the increase in Kentucky’s labor force is the largest since 1997.