State and local governments also offer “good jobs” stable, relatively well paid, with benefits where the factories and coal mines that once served that role have often shut down. Cutting more jobs, Ms. Harrah said, will slow the recovery.
Kentucky’s economy has pockets of strength. Statewide, the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in November, better than the national rate of 6.7 percent. The state’s central location has helped it become a logistics hub for UPS, DHL and Amazon, which have thrived during the pandemic boom in online shopping. Toyota and Ford have factories in Kentucky; they shut down early in the pandemic but have roared back to life to meet rising demand.