State officials say Kentucky ended last year with a drop in its unemployment rate.

The Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics says the seasonally adjusted preliminary rate in December was 4.4 percent. That's down from the 4.7 percent rate in November, and was lower than the 4.8 percent jobless rate across Kentucky in December 2016.

Kentucky's jobless rate last month was slightly above the 4.1 percent national rate.

The director of the University of Kentucky's Center for Business and Economic Research, Chris Bollinger, says Kentucky's unemployment rate has reached its lowest level since December 2002.

He says data shows that more people are entering Kentucky's labor force and finding work.