WNKY 40 News February 9, 2021 FRANKFORT, Ky. — On Tuesday, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce released the first of a new series of quarterly reports, “Kentucky’s Economic Recovery: A Quarterly Update of Workforce, Employment, State GDP, and Exports,” to track Kentucky’s economic recovery in partnership with the University of Kentucky Center for Business and Economic Research. In addition to causing a global health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has also shaken the economy to its core. Very quickly, Kentucky set a record for the number of unemployment claims with more than 591,000 claims filed in six weeks, small businesses were closing, and the state’s workforce participation rate plummeted to the lowest in the nation.