Economy
See also: Kentucky locations by per capita incomeEarly in its history Kentucky gained recognition for its excellent farming conditions. It was the site of the first commercial winery in the United States (started in present day Jessamine County in 1799) and due to the high calcium content of the soil in the Bluegrass region quickly became a major horse breeding (and later racing) area. Today Kentucky ranks 5th nationally in goat farming, 8th in beef cattle production, and 14th in corn production.
Today Kentucky's economy has expanded to importance in non agricultural terms as well, especially in auto manufacturing, energy fuel production, and medical facilities. As of 2010 24% of electricity produced in the USA depended on either enriched uranium rods coming from the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (the only domestic site of low grade uranium enrichment), or from the 107,336 tons of coal extracted from the state's two coal fields (which combined produce 4% percent of the electricity in the United States).
Kentucky ranks 4th among U.S. states in the number of automobiles and trucks assembled. The Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac XLR (2004–2009), Ford Escape, Ford Super Duty trucks, Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator, Toyota Camry, Toyota Avalon, Toyota Solara, and Toyota Venza are assembled in Kentucky.
Kentucky exports reached a record $22.1 billion in 2012, with products and services going to 199 countries.
According to the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, the primary state agency in Kentucky responsible for creating new jobs and new investment in the state, new business investment in Kentucky in 2012 totaled nearly $2.7 billion, with the creation of more than 14,000 new jobs. One such investment was L'Oreal in Northern Kentucky,which added 200 jobs on top of the 280 already in existing facilities in Florence and Walton.
In May 2010, the Army Human Resource Center of Excellence, the largest office building in the state at nearly 900,000-square-feet, opened at Fort Knox. The new complex employs nearly 4,300 soldiers and civilians.
The total gross state product for 2010 was $163.3 billion, 28th in the nation. Its per-capita personal income was US$28,513, 43rd in the nation. An organization called the Institute for Truth in Accounting estimated that the state government's debts exceeded its available assets by US$26,300 per taxpayer as of 2011, ranking the state as having the 5th highest such debt burden in the nation.
As of July 2012, the state's unemployment rate is 8.3%.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Kentucky
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“It enhances our sense of the grand security and serenity of nature to observe the still undisturbed economy and content of the fishes of this century, their happiness a regular fruit of the summer.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which expose the whole movement.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The basis of political economy is non-interference. The only safe rule is found in the self-adjusting meter of demand and supply. Do not legislate. Meddle, and you snap the sinews with your sumptuary laws.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)