DeKalb County’s unemployment rate for January was 4.7%, up from 3.9% in December but well below the 6.2% rate recorded in January, 2017.

The local labor force for January was 7,720. A total of 7,350 were employed and 370 were without work.

Jobless rates for January among the fourteen counties in the Upper Cumberland region were as follows from highest to lowest:
Clay: 5.6%
Cumberland: 5.4%
Jackson: 5.1%
DeKalb: 4.7%
Van Buren: 4.7%
Fentress: 4.5%
Overton: 4.5%
Pickett:4.4%
Warren: 4.1%
White: 3.9%
Putnam: 3.7%
Smith: 3.5%
Cannon: 3.4%
Macon: 3.3%

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) released county unemployment statistics for January 2018 last week which showed that a vast majority of the state’s 95 counties continue to record unemployment rates under 5 percent and every county’s rate was lower than it was in January 2017.

Williamson County continued to have Tennessee’s lowest unemployment rate at 2.5 percent, which is a 0.3 percent increase from December.

At 2.7 percent, Davidson and Cheatham Counties tied for the second lowest unemployment rates in the state. Rutherford, Wilson, Sumner, Moore, Knox, Robertson, and Lincoln Counties rounded out the list of the top ten lowest unemployment rates in Tennessee. Robertson and Lincoln Counties were not part of December’s top ten list.

“Because of seasonal employment trends, Tennessee typically sees a slight uptick in county unemployment at the start of the year,” explained TDLWD Commissioner Burns Phillips. “But the year-to-year comparison of statistics shows just how well the state is doing when it comes to job creation.”

Many counties saw a decrease of 2 percent or more in year-to-year comparisons. Two counties once again stand out when comparing unemployment statistics from January 2018 to January 2017.

In east Tennessee, Scott County’s unemployment situation has improved significantly in comparison to same time last year. In January of 2017 the county’s unemployment rate was 8.1 percent. This year, the rate in Scott County was 4.8 percent, a drop of 3.3 percentage points.

Lake County in west Tennessee has also experienced significant job growth over the last year. Last January the county had an unemployment rate of 10.1 percent. During January 2018 the county recorded a rate of 6.4 percent, a difference of 3.7 percentage points.

“This is a great example of how Tennessee’s economy is not only strong in its metropolitan areas, but it is also doing well in many of the state’s more rural counties,” Commissioner Phillips said.

Tennessee had a statewide unemployment rate of 3.3 percent in January, which was the sixth lowest in the nation. The national unemployment rate was 4.1 percent last month.

The statewide unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted, while county rates are not. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that eliminates the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools and other recurring seasonal events from an economic time series.

The DCHS Men’s Soccer Team played in the Smoky Mountain Cup soccer tournament in Gatlinburg last weekend. The varsity team opened up with a strong victory against Rockwood High School beating the Rockwood Tigers 3-0. Cristobal Flores started the scoring with a goal in the 5th minute assisted by right defensive back, Bill Miller. The Tigers continued to pepper the Rockwood goalie, Thomas Lilly, with shots, but didn’t break through until the 20th minute with a goal from Ealy Gassaway coming in from his left wing. Ealy’s goal was assisted by center forward Cristobal Flores on a perfectly timed through ball. The first half ended 2-0 in favor of the DeKalb Tigers. Early in the second half, Cristobal Flores tallied his second for the game with an unassisted goal in the 43rd minute. That wrapped up the scoring for the night, but the DeKalb Tigers continued to dominate possession and racked up 30 shots on the night. Goalkeeper Wesley Carpenter barely touched the ball for DeKalb with only 4 saves in the match.

The dominance continued the Tigers’ second match with an 8-0 victory over the Heritage High School Mountaineers. Alan Munoz started the scoring off in the match by making an overlapping run from his central midfield position assisted by Cristobal Flores. Alan went on to score again later in the match with an unassisted goal. Cristobal would go on a record tying run with five goals. Four of the goals were unassisted and the fifth was assisted by central midfielder Jasper Kleparek. The scoring was wrapped up with a goal by central midfielder Roberto Sanchez, also assisted by Cristobal Flores. Wesley Carpenter was tested a little more in this match with 13 saves, some of which were spectacular.

The third varsity match was quite a bit more challenging as the Tigers faced the King’s Academy Lion’s in a 3-1 loss. The Tigers opened the scoring with a goal by right wing Luke Bryant in the 9th minute. Struggling to maintain possession against a strong Lions team the Tigers only managed 9 shots on the day, while goalkeeper Wesley Carpenter had to make 12 saves. In the end, the Tigers came up short with the Lions scoring two goals on penalty kicks and one in the run of play.

The Tigers’ JV also got to play three matches with a 4-1 loss to Cookeville, a 3-1 win over Heritage High School, and a 2-1 loss to Fairview High School.

“Overall the tournament was a success with our JV really improving throughout the weekend, getting a lot of quality time. Our varsity team showed there relentless nature and pushed themselves to play at a level that we can be proud to call DeKalb County Soccer.” Coach K
“Cristobal Flores’s five goal performance against Heritage ties a previously shared record between Ricardo Gutierrez and Zach Wilbur.”

(Team photo ABOVE)

Back roll left to right:

Cesar Coronilla, Andrew Fuson, Luke Bryant, Will Stephens, Ethan Jenkins, Parker Gassaway, Luke Jenkins, Wesley Carpenter, Juan Oliva.

Middle roll left to right:

Bill Miller, Rodrigo Sosa, Dylan Easterwood, Tristan McDerman, Ealy Gassaway, Jack Famulski.

Front roll left to right:

Brian Balderas, Alex Colwell-Avina, Daniel Munoz, Brandon Matias, Carlos Garcia, Alan Munoz, Pablo Juarez, Roberto Sanchez, Jasper Kleparek, Eil Judkins