The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) announced that 91 of Tennessee’s 95 counties reported unemployment rates of less than 5% for November, with unemployment rates decreasing in 17 counties including Cannon County..
Moore and Williamson counties recorded the state’s lowest unemployment rates for November at 2.6%. Those counties also reported rates of 2.6% in October.
Sevier County had the state’s next-lowest unemployment rate for the month. At 2.7%, the rate was one-tenth of a percentage point higher than in October.
The unemployment rate for Cannon County improved by one tenth of a percentage point moving to 3.3 percent in November from 3.4 percent in October. Cannon’s work force of 7,066 persons reflects 6,834 persons employed. For November 232 persons in the county are looking for work.
Unicoi County in Northeast Tennessee recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate for November at 6%. That was a two-tenths of a percentage point increase over its October rate of 5.8%.
Bledsoe County followed with a rate for November at 5.4%. Bledsoe’s rate in October was 5.1%.
McNairy County reported the third-highest rate for the month at 5.3%, an uptick of one-tenth of a percentage point over its October rate.
The unemployment rate in Weakley County — which reported the highest rate in Tennessee in October — dropped 2 full percentage points in November to 3.9%.
Unemployment rates remained the same in 30 counties, while rates in 48 counties increased from October to November.
Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5% in November. That rate was up two-tenths of a percentage point over the previous month but is still seven-tenths of a percentage point below the national rate of 4.2%.
Unlike the statewide rate, county rates are not adjusted to account for seasonal impacts on employment.
TDLWD has compiled an analysis of county unemployment data. That report is available here.