According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provisional estimates, in July 2003 the seasonally adjusted civilian labor force in Kentucky numbered 1,997,000, with approximately 121,800 workers unemployed, yielding an unemployment rate of 6.1%, compared to the national average of 6.2% for the same period. Since the beginning of the BLS data series in 1978, the highest unemployment rate recorded was 12.6% in December 1982. The historical low was 3.8% in April 2000. In 2001, an estimated 4.6% of the labor force was employed in construction; 14.7% in manufacturing; 6.0% in transportation, communications, and public utilities; 19.5% in trade; 4.4% in finance, insurance, and real estate; 23.7% in services; 15.8% in government; and 3.2% in agriculture.
Although a small number of trade unions existed in Kentucky before the 1850s, it was not until after the Civil War that substantial unionization took place. During the 1930s, there were long, violent struggles between the United Mine Workers (UMW) and the mine owners of eastern Kentucky. The UMW won bargaining rights in 1938, but after World War II the displacement of workers because of mechanization, a drastic drop in the demand for coal, and evidence of mismanagement and corruption within the UMW served to undercut the union's position. Following the announcement by the UMW in 1962 that its five hospitals would be sold or closed, unemployed mine workers began protracted picketing of nonunion mines. Episodes of violence accompanied the movement, which succeeded in closing the mines but not in keeping them closed. The protests dissipated when public works jobs were provided for unemployed fathers among the miners, beginning in late 1973. Increased demand for coal in the 1970s led to a substantial increase in jobs for miners, and the UMW, under different leaders, began a new drive to organize the Cumberland Plateau.
The US Department of Labor reported that in 2002, 164,000 of Kentucky's 1,639,000 employed wage and salary workers were members of unions. This represented 10.0% of those so employed, down from 11.3% in 2001 and from 13.1% in 1998. The national average is 13.2%. In all, 184,000 workers (11.2%) were represented by unions. In addition to union members, this category includes workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract.