Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate was unchanged from November 2016 to December 2016 at 4.8 percent, according to the Office of Employment and Training, an agency of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. The preliminary December 2016 jobless rate was 0.9 percentage points lower than the 5.7 percent rate recorded for the state in December 2015. Employment was up by 11,715, while the number of unemployed increased by 188. Kentucky Labor Market Information Director Kate Shirley Akers, Ph.D., said Kentucky has grown in both labor force and number of employed by 3.3 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, over the last year.