A recent report from the Kentucky Center for Statistics revealed that our state workforce declined for the second month in a row. Over 11,000 people who are able bodied have left the workforce in the first two months of 2026. Even though the 4.2 percent unemployment appears a positive, it doesn’t tell the whole story since it only considers those who are actually looking for work. For various reasons, many able-bodied Kentuckians are simply “sitting out. ” As it is, according the Federal Reserve, Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted labor force participation rate was 57.9%, and its one of the lowest workforce participation rates in the nation. Review of social programs that could be entangling the able-bodied and encouragement of policies that reward work, are in order.