Lexington’s COVID-19 unemployment recovery is among the best in the U.S., study says
Lexington’s unemployment rate ballooned as the COVID-19 pandemic took its toll on the United States, but a new study suggests the horse capital of the world is among the nation’s top recovering economies this year.
Lexington’s COVID-19 unemployment recovery ranked 15th out of 180 cities around the United States, according to a study from Wallethub, a personal finance company based in Washington, D.C.
Lexington’s ranking was ahead of Louisville, which was 29th. Lexington and Louisville were the only two Kentucky cities ranked in the study.
The study used each city’s unemployment rate in March 2019, January 2020, March 2020, and March 2021 to determine economic recovery and configure the rankings. The lowest unemployment rates in March this year were also factored into the rankings.
Lexington’s unemployment rate in March was only about 13.5 percent higher than it was in March 2019, making it the 18th best unemployment recovery among the 180 cities included in the study. The city’s 4.3 percent unemployment rate in March this year was the 22nd lowest rate among all studied cities. It was also lower than the nationwide unemployment rate of about 6 percent.
The 180 cities studied were determined by the nation’s 150 most-populated cities, plus at least one of the most populated cities in each state. Lincoln, Ne., ranked first in unemployment recovery and Hialeah, Fl., ranked 180. Wallethub’s full study was published online.
Lexington’s unemployment rate during the pandemic actually peaked in April 2020, a month which wasn’t included in the study. The city’s unemployment rate this time last year was 15.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was the first time since at least 1990 that Lexington’s unemployment rate eclipsed 10 percent.
Lexington’s next-highest unemployment rate in the past 30 years was 9.9 percent in June 2009.
Lexington’s unemployment rate had dropped to 2.8 percent in December 2019, just a few months before the pandemic reached Lexington in March 2020 and subsequently spiked the city’s job losses.