August 1, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
The seasonal impacts on employment, such as school breaks, continued to have an impact on Tennessee’s county unemployment numbers in June, according to newly released information from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).
DeKalb County’s jobless rate for June 2023 was 4.6%, up from the rate of 3.7% in May and just below the 4.7% rate in June, 2022.
The local labor force for June 2023 was 8,285. A total of 7,900 were employed and 385 were unemployed.
County unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted to take into account the effects of seasonal layoffs, while the statewide unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted.
The June 2023 data showed unemployment rates increased in each of Tennessee’s 95 counties during the month. Seventy-seven counties had an unemployment rate of less than 5% in June, while the remaining 18 counties had rates of 5% or greater but less than 10%.
At 2.8%, Williamson County reported the lowest unemployment rate in June. Its new statistic was 0.3 of a percentage point higher than the previous month’s rate. The rates for both Cheatham and Sevier counties were 2.9% for the month. The rates in both counties increased by 0.3 of a percentage point between May and June.
Bledsoe County had Tennessee’s highest unemployment rate for the month. At 6.5%, the county’s June rate jumped 1.2 percentage points when compared to its May rate. Scott and Van Buren counties shared the next highest rate of 5.9%. That represented a 0.6 of a percentage point increase for Scott County and an increase of 1.8 percentage points for Van Buren County.
Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate matched the state’s all-time low statistic of 3.2%, which represented a 0.1 of a percentage point decrease from the previous month.
Employers across the state having a difficult time finding employees can learn how second chances work by viewing the Second Chances Work Employer Resource Guide. The Tennessee Office of Reentry can work with businesses to show them how hiring justice-involved individuals can benefit their workforce and their budget with tax incentives and job training funds.