March 30, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
Many counties across Tennessee experienced significant drops in unemployment in February after the end of seasonal employment impacted January’s numbers, according to new data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).
DeKalb County was an exception.
The February jobless rate in DeKalb County was 4.2%, a slight increase from the January rate of 4% and above the rate of 3.6% in February, 2022.
The local labor force for February, 2023 was 8,086. A total of 7,743 were employed and 343 were without work.
Twenty-two counties across the state saw rates decrease during the month, while unemployment held steady in 21 additional counties. Rates did increase in the remaining 52 counties.
One of the most notable decreases was in Perry County. It had the highest unemployment rate in January at 9.8% but one month later, its rate dropped 4.7 percentage points to 5.1%.
Moore County recorded the lowest rate across the state for February at 2.5%, which was unchanged when compared to the previous month. Williamson County had Tennessee’s second-lowest rate at 2.6%, up 0.1 of a percentage point from its January rate.
Cocke County recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate for the month. At 6.5%, unemployment in the county was still down 0.5 of a percentage point from January’s rate of 7%. Bledsoe County’s rate was the second-highest at 5.9%, which mirrored its number from the month before.
Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate held steady at 3.5% in February. That marked the fifth consecutive month unemployment across the state remained unchanged.
Nationally, unemployment in February increased to 3.6%, up 0.2 of a percentage point.
Unlike statewide and national unemployment rates, county data is not seasonally adjusted to take into consideration seasonal impacts on unemployment.
Jobs4TN.gov currently has more than 300,00 open positions available around Tennessee and just across its borders. Job seekers can utilize a variety of services on the site that will help them find meaningful employment. They can also go to TNWorkReady.com for information on Adult Education, help for justice involved individuals to find work, and much more.