Business Employment Dynamics in Kentucky — Fourth Quarter 2025

From September 2025 to December 2025, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Kentucky were 89,043, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 84,843, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 4,200 jobs in the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2025. (See table 1.) During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 4,764. (See chart 1.)

Chart 1. Line chart of gross job gains and losses in Kentucky, December 2020–December 2025, seasonally adjusted. An accessible version is available in View Chart Data link below the chart.

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Private-sector gross job gains and losses in Kentucky, December 2020–December 2025, seasonally adjusted
Period	Gross job gains	Gross job losses
Dec 2020	111,606	93,796
Mar 2021	114,824	83,804
Jun 2021	101,239	99,084
Sep 2021	106,019	100,440
Dec 2021	117,391	78,350
Mar 2022	108,020	92,150
Jun 2022	102,880	106,247
Sep 2022	108,670	87,932
Dec 2022	97,897	87,539
Mar 2023	103,426	82,469
Jun 2023	93,778	98,651
Sep 2023	95,675	92,658
Dec 2023	95,696	87,876
Mar 2024	98,629	86,243
Jun 2024	89,092	97,007
Sep 2024	91,173	91,959
Dec 2024	89,383	92,668
Mar 2025	88,175	81,258
Jun 2025	84,012	90,592
Sep 2025	89,334	94,098
Dec 2025	89,043	84,843

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track these changes in employment at private-sector establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.)

Gross job gains

In the fourth quarter of 2025, gross job gains represented 5.2 percent of private-sector employment in Kentucky; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.9 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. In Kentucky, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 73,208 in the fourth quarter of 2025, an increase of 2,254 jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 15,835 jobs gained in the fourth quarter of 2025, a decrease of 2,545 jobs from the previous quarter.

View Chart Data

Chart 2. Private-sector gross job gains as a percent of employment, United States and Kentucky, December 2020–December 2025, seasonally adjusted
Period	United States	Kentucky
Dec 2020	7.4	7.3
Mar 2021	7.0	7.4
Jun 2021	6.8	6.5
Sep 2021	7.3	6.7
Dec 2021	7.7	7.4
Mar 2022	6.7	6.7
Jun 2022	6.5	6.3
Sep 2022	6.9	6.7
Dec 2022	6.3	6.0
Mar 2023	6.3	6.1
Jun 2023	6.2	5.6
Sep 2023	5.9	5.7
Dec 2023	6.0	5.7
Mar 2024	5.9	5.9
Jun 2024	5.8	5.3
Sep 2024	5.8	5.4
Dec 2024	5.9	5.3
Mar 2025	5.6	5.2
Jun 2025	5.7	5.0
Sep 2025	5.6	5.3
Dec 2025	5.9	5.2

Gross job losses

In the fourth quarter of 2025, gross job losses represented 5.0 percent of private-sector employment in Kentucky; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.5 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In Kentucky, contracting establishments lost 70,815 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2025, a decrease of 6,042 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 14,028 jobs, a decrease of 3,213 jobs from the previous quarter.

View Chart Data

Chart 3. Private-sector gross job losses as a percent of employment, United States and Kentucky, December 2020–December 2025, seasonally adjusted
Period	United States	Kentucky
Dec 2020	5.7	6.2
Mar 2021	5.5	5.4
Jun 2021	5.9	6.3
Sep 2021	6.0	6.4
Dec 2021	5.4	4.9
Mar 2022	5.5	5.7
Jun 2022	6.2	6.5
Sep 2022	5.9	5.4
Dec 2022	5.9	5.3
Mar 2023	5.5	4.9
Jun 2023	5.9	5.9
Sep 2023	5.9	5.6
Dec 2023	5.7	5.2
Mar 2024	5.5	5.1
Jun 2024	5.9	5.8
Sep 2024	5.8	5.4
Dec 2024	5.7	5.5
Mar 2025	5.4	4.8
Jun 2025	6.0	5.4
Sep 2025	5.7	5.6
Dec 2025	5.5	5.0

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 5 of the 11 published industry sectors in Kentucky in the fourth quarter of 2025. Leisure and hospitality had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 3,436 jobs. This was the result of 17,742 gross job gains and 14,306 gross job losses. The transportation and warehousing industry had a net gain of 2,024 jobs, followed by education and health services with a net gain of 1,844 jobs. Retail trade showed a net loss of 1,843 jobs, the largest loss of any sector in the state.

For more information

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm level by employer size class. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at the Business Employment Dynamics homepage and the Business Employment Dynamics Summary.

The Business Employment Dynamics for First Quarter 2026 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Revisions to Business Employment Dynamics (BED) Data

The release of First Quarter 2026 Business Employment Dynamics data, scheduled for October 28, 2026, will incorporate annual revisions in accordance with standard procedures. The revisions will include the previous four quarters of not seasonally adjusted data and five years of seasonally adjusted data.

Technical Note

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). The BED data are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing QCEW records.

More information on formal definitions of the data used in this release, along with coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Table 1. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by industry, Kentucky, seasonally adjusted
Category	Gross job gains and losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
Category	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025	Sept. 2025	Dec. 2025	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025	Sept. 2025	Dec. 2025
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	89,383	88,175	84,012	89,334	89,043	5.3	5.2	5.0	5.3	5.2
At expanding establishments	72,576	72,762	68,965	70,954	73,208	4.3	4.3	4.1	4.2	4.3
At opening establishments	16,807	15,413	15,047	18,380	15,835	1.0	0.9	0.9	1.1	0.9
Gross job losses	92,668	81,258	90,592	94,098	84,843	5.5	4.8	5.4	5.6	5.0
At contracting establishments	78,073	68,021	76,114	76,857	70,815	4.6	4.0	4.5	4.6	4.2
At closing establishments	14,595	13,237	14,478	17,241	14,028	0.9	0.8	0.9	1.0	0.8
Net employment change (2)	-3,285	6,917	-6,580	-4,764	4,200	-0.2	0.4	-0.4	-0.3	0.2
Construction
Gross job gains	7,574	7,097	6,966	7,714	8,062	8.1	7.6	7.5	8.3	8.6
At expanding establishments	6,154	5,822	5,664	6,384	6,553	6.6	6.2	6.1	6.9	7.0
At opening establishments	1,420	1,275	1,302	1,330	1,509	1.5	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.6
Gross job losses	8,567	7,045	7,247	6,990	6,831	9.2	7.5	7.7	7.6	7.3
At contracting establishments	7,342	5,888	6,016	5,341	5,654	7.9	6.3	6.4	5.8	6.0
At closing establishments	1,225	1,157	1,231	1,649	1,177	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.8	1.3
Net employment change (2)	-993	52	-281	724	1,231	-1.1	0.1	-0.2	0.7	1.3
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	6,106	6,472	5,570	5,747	5,634	2.4	2.6	2.2	2.3	2.3
At expanding establishments	5,613	5,807	5,050	4,803	4,881	2.2	2.3	2.0	1.9	2.0
At opening establishments	493	665	520	944	753	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.3
Gross job losses	7,986	6,195	7,669	8,462	7,090	3.1	2.4	3.0	3.4	2.8
At contracting establishments	7,406	5,815	6,784	7,446	6,481	2.9	2.3	2.7	3.0	2.6
At closing establishments	580	380	885	1,016	609	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.4	0.2
Net employment change (2)	-1,880	277	-2,099	-2,715	-1,456	-0.7	0.2	-0.8	-1.1	-0.5
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	2,901	3,667	3,082	3,200	3,133	3.6	4.5	3.8	3.9	3.9
At expanding establishments	2,493	3,017	2,678	2,605	2,816	3.1	3.7	3.3	3.2	3.5
At opening establishments	408	650	404	595	317	0.5	0.8	0.5	0.7	0.4
Gross job losses	3,393	3,043	3,293	3,454	2,803	4.2	3.7	4.0	4.3	3.5
At contracting establishments	2,891	2,613	2,720	2,727	2,337	3.6	3.2	3.3	3.4	2.9
At closing establishments	502	430	573	727	466	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.9	0.6
Net employment change (2)	-492	624	-211	-254	330	-0.6	0.8	-0.2	-0.4	0.4
Retail trade
Gross job gains	10,267	11,773	10,589	12,593	9,817	4.9	5.6	5.0	6.0	4.6
At expanding establishments	8,771	10,347	9,041	10,759	8,487	4.2	4.9	4.3	5.1	4.0
At opening establishments	1,496	1,426	1,548	1,834	1,330	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.9	0.6
Gross job losses	12,481	10,040	13,195	11,115	11,660	5.9	4.8	6.2	5.2	5.5
At contracting establishments	11,231	8,387	11,411	9,559	10,313	5.3	4.0	5.4	4.5	4.9
At closing establishments	1,250	1,653	1,784	1,556	1,347	0.6	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.6
Net employment change (2)	-2,214	1,733	-2,606	1,478	-1,843	-1.0	0.8	-1.2	0.8	-0.9
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	6,753	5,012	4,087	4,326	6,878	5.3	3.9	3.3	3.4	5.4
At expanding establishments	6,021	4,371	3,619	3,688	6,334	4.7	3.4	2.9	2.9	5.0
At opening establishments	732	641	468	638	544	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.4
Gross job losses	5,004	5,554	6,450	5,965	4,854	3.9	4.3	5.1	4.7	3.8
At contracting establishments	4,377	5,045	5,861	5,157	4,291	3.4	3.9	4.6	4.1	3.4
At closing establishments	627	509	589	808	563	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.6	0.4
Net employment change (2)	1,749	-542	-2,363	-1,639	2,024	1.4	-0.4	-1.8	-1.3	1.6
Information
Gross job gains	957	856	1,029	1,057	924	4.6	4.1	5.0	5.2	4.6
At expanding establishments	689	641	781	708	651	3.3	3.1	3.8	3.5	3.2
At opening establishments	268	215	248	349	273	1.3	1.0	1.2	1.7	1.4
Gross job losses	1,490	1,129	1,165	1,386	944	7.3	5.5	5.7	6.9	4.7
At contracting establishments	1,210	866	855	1,049	591	5.9	4.2	4.2	5.2	2.9
At closing establishments	280	263	310	337	353	1.4	1.3	1.5	1.7	1.8
Net employment change (2)	-533	-273	-136	-329	-20	-2.7	-1.4	-0.7	-1.7	-0.1
Financial activities
Gross job gains	3,907	3,671	4,271	4,034	3,761	4.1	3.9	4.5	4.2	3.9
At expanding establishments	2,839	2,842	3,317	3,067	2,871	3.0	3.0	3.5	3.2	3.0
At opening establishments	1,068	829	954	967	890	1.1	0.9	1.0	1.0	0.9
Gross job losses	4,394	3,591	3,820	4,231	4,023	4.6	3.8	4.0	4.5	4.2
At contracting establishments	3,417	2,744	2,924	3,200	3,150	3.6	2.9	3.1	3.4	3.3
At closing establishments	977	847	896	1,031	873	1.0	0.9	0.9	1.1	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-487	80	451	-197	-262	-0.5	0.1	0.5	-0.3	-0.3
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	14,172	17,587	16,824	17,878	14,260	6.4	7.9	7.5	7.9	6.3
At expanding establishments	11,155	14,675	13,624	13,559	11,258	5.0	6.6	6.1	6.0	5.0
At opening establishments	3,017	2,912	3,200	4,319	3,002	1.4	1.3	1.4	1.9	1.3
Gross job losses	18,892	13,460	16,135	17,144	15,659	8.4	6.1	7.1	7.6	7.0
At contracting establishments	15,485	10,883	13,344	14,017	13,168	6.9	4.9	5.9	6.2	5.9
At closing establishments	3,407	2,577	2,791	3,127	2,491	1.5	1.2	1.2	1.4	1.1
Net employment change (2)	-4,720	4,127	689	734	-1,399	-2.0	1.8	0.4	0.3	-0.7
Education and health services
Gross job gains	13,625	12,031	12,257	13,062	13,768	4.4	3.9	4.0	4.2	4.4
At expanding establishments	10,727	9,555	9,606	10,144	11,152	3.5	3.1	3.1	3.3	3.6
At opening establishments	2,898	2,476	2,651	2,918	2,616	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.8
Gross job losses	10,995	10,409	11,944	13,890	11,924	3.6	3.3	3.9	4.5	3.8
At contracting establishments	8,490	8,157	9,611	10,930	8,825	2.8	2.6	3.1	3.5	2.8
At closing establishments	2,505	2,252	2,333	2,960	3,099	0.8	0.7	0.8	1.0	1.0
Net employment change (2)	2,630	1,622	313	-828	1,844	0.8	0.6	0.1	-0.3	0.6
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	18,326	14,827	14,642	14,572	17,742	8.9	7.1	7.1	7.1	8.6
At expanding establishments	14,649	12,111	11,999	11,529	14,642	7.1	5.8	5.8	5.6	7.1
At opening establishments	3,677	2,716	2,643	3,043	3,100	1.8	1.3	1.3	1.5	1.5
Gross job losses	13,985	16,227	15,057	16,421	14,306	6.8	7.8	7.3	8.0	6.9
At contracting establishments	11,792	13,939	12,778	13,677	12,243	5.7	6.7	6.2	6.7	5.9
At closing establishments	2,193	2,288	2,279	2,744	2,063	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.3	1.0
Net employment change (2)	4,341	-1,400	-415	-1,849	3,436	2.1	-0.7	-0.2	-0.9	1.7
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	2,977	3,368	3,215	3,508	3,178	6.3	7.2	6.8	7.5	6.8
At expanding establishments	2,312	2,470	2,595	2,706	2,428	4.9	5.3	5.5	5.8	5.2
At opening establishments	665	898	620	802	750	1.4	1.9	1.3	1.7	1.6
Gross job losses	3,603	3,125	3,269	3,497	3,303	7.7	6.7	6.9	7.5	7.0
At contracting establishments	2,874	2,552	2,687	2,609	2,670	6.1	5.5	5.7	5.6	5.7
At closing establishments	729	573	582	888	633	1.6	1.2	1.2	1.9	1.3
Net employment change (2)	-626	243	-54	11	-125	-1.4	0.5	-0.1	0.0	-0.2
Footnotes: (1) Includes unclassified sector not shown separately. (2) The net employment change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses. (3) Except public administration.

Table 2. Private-sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted
Category	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
Category	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025	Sept. 2025	Dec. 2025	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025	Sept. 2025	Dec. 2025
United States(1)	5.9	5.6	5.7	5.6	5.9	5.7	5.4	6.0	5.7	5.5
Alabama	5.8	5.3	5.5	5.4	6.1	5.3	5.6	5.6	5.5	5.4
Alaska	10.3	10.0	9.9	7.5	11.8	9.5	8.1	10.3	10.0	9.3
Arizona	6.1	5.8	5.3	5.8	5.7	5.9	5.3	6.3	5.5	5.4
Arkansas	5.8	5.1	5.1	5.3	6.0	4.8	5.1	5.5	5.3	5.0
California	6.7	6.0	6.6	6.2	6.8	6.4	6.2	6.7	6.0	6.1
Colorado	6.2	6.2	6.4	6.5	6.2	6.5	6.8	7.1	6.5	6.4
Connecticut	5.5	5.6	5.8	5.3	5.5	5.5	5.3	5.8	5.9	5.5
Delaware	6.1	5.9	5.9	5.3	5.5	6.3	5.3	6.1	6.1	5.5
District of Columbia	5.0	4.8	5.7	4.6	5.2	5.5	5.8	5.9	5.9	5.0
Florida	6.0	5.8	5.7	5.9	5.9	6.2	5.5	5.8	6.0	5.7
Georgia	6.0	5.5	5.5	5.7	5.9	5.4	5.7	5.6	5.8	5.5
Hawaii	5.3	4.9	4.8	5.1	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.2	4.8	4.7
Idaho	8.2	7.3	7.7	6.7	8.1	6.8	7.3	7.2	7.6	6.3
Illinois	5.1	5.0	5.2	4.7	5.3	5.1	5.0	5.2	5.0	5.3
Indiana	5.5	5.4	5.0	5.1	5.5	5.1	5.2	5.6	5.1	5.1
Iowa	5.6	5.8	5.6	4.8	6.3	5.6	5.5	5.8	5.9	5.4
Kansas	5.9	5.5	5.4	5.8	5.7	5.2	5.4	6.3	5.8	5.3
Kentucky	5.3	5.2	5.0	5.3	5.2	5.5	4.8	5.4	5.6	5.0
Louisiana	6.2	5.6	5.5	5.9	6.0	5.5	5.6	6.3	6.0	5.9
Maine	7.0	7.4	7.2	6.2	6.8	7.1	6.3	7.4	7.0	7.0
Maryland	6.0	5.9	5.7	5.7	6.0	5.9	5.7	6.2	6.5	5.6
Massachusetts	5.3	5.0	5.5	5.3	5.4	5.5	5.1	5.8	5.9	5.6
Michigan	5.4	5.2	5.8	4.9	5.6	5.9	5.3	5.5	5.9	5.3
Minnesota	5.5	5.1	5.8	5.3	5.6	5.1	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.5
Mississippi	6.3	5.7	6.3	6.4	6.4	6.2	6.1	6.5	6.1	5.8
Missouri	5.7	5.4	5.5	5.6	6.1	5.3	5.2	6.1	5.9	5.5
Montana	8.4	8.0	7.7	7.0	8.4	7.8	7.5	8.3	7.9	7.4
Nebraska	5.6	5.2	5.4	5.5	5.7	5.5	5.3	5.5	5.8	5.2
Nevada	6.1	5.4	6.2	6.9	6.2	5.6	5.9	6.3	5.2	5.4
New Hampshire	6.3	6.5	6.3	5.6	6.2	5.9	6.1	6.7	6.8	5.7
New Jersey	6.0	5.6	5.8	5.3	5.7	5.5	5.4	5.5	5.8	5.3
New Mexico	6.1	5.9	5.9	5.8	6.1	5.9	5.8	6.0	6.2	6.0
New York	5.7	6.6	5.9	5.9	5.6	5.5	5.0	7.0	5.8	5.6
North Carolina	6.1	5.4	5.6	5.4	6.0	5.5	5.5	5.4	5.7	5.1
North Dakota	6.5	6.7	6.4	6.2	6.9	6.6	6.5	6.7	6.6	6.4
Ohio	5.4	5.2	5.3	5.1	5.3	5.1	4.9	5.4	5.3	5.0
Oklahoma	6.0	5.5	5.5	6.0	6.2	5.5	5.3	6.2	6.4	5.1
Oregon	6.2	5.8	6.4	5.7	6.0	6.6	6.2	6.5	6.7	6.0
Pennsylvania	5.2	5.0	4.9	5.0	5.1	4.8	4.7	5.2	5.2	4.7
Rhode Island	7.3	6.6	6.3	6.0	6.6	6.3	5.9	6.7	6.7	6.2
South Carolina	6.4	6.1	5.8	6.3	6.7	5.9	5.5	6.6	6.5	5.5
South Dakota	6.7	6.2	6.0	5.9	6.0	5.9	6.5	6.1	6.0	5.6
Tennessee	5.5	5.4	5.1	5.7	6.2	6.2	5.1	5.9	5.2	5.2
Texas	5.8	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.6	5.2	5.1	5.4	5.3	4.9
Utah	6.8	6.6	6.6	6.7	6.5	6.3	6.0	6.6	6.4	6.1
Vermont	6.7	6.9	6.9	6.6	6.9	6.7	6.8	7.5	7.8	7.0
Virginia	5.8	5.6	5.8	5.9	5.8	5.5	5.1	5.8	6.1	5.1
Washington	5.8	5.7	6.0	5.2	5.6	5.7	5.5	5.4	5.6	5.3
West Virginia	6.5	6.4	5.5	5.8	5.9	6.1	5.7	6.3	6.0	6.0
Wisconsin	5.3	5.0	5.3	4.9	5.6	5.2	4.9	5.5	5.6	5.1
Wyoming	8.9	8.1	8.3	7.7	9.0	8.3	8.7	8.9	8.4	8.0
Puerto Rico	4.3	6.3	7.0	5.4	4.4	5.4	5.4	6.1	5.7	5.2
Virgin Islands	5.2	5.4	15.0	7.1	9.1	10.8	7.6	9.5	8.4	7.2
Footnotes (1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. The sum of the states will not necessarily add to the U.S. total because of the independent seasonal adjustment of each state.

Last Modified Date: Friday, August 07, 2026

Southeast Information Office

Business Employment Dynamics in Kentucky — Fourth Quarter 2025