July 1, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County unemployment rate for May was 3.6%, up from 3.4% in April but well below the 4% rate for May, 2018.
The local labor force for May was 7,910. Employment was 7,620 and 290 were unemployed.
Newly released unemployment data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) for May 2019 shows unemployment rates for nearly every county in the state are below 5 percent for the month.
Ninety-one counties have unemployment rates lower than 5 percent and four counties have a rate of 5 percent or higher in May.
While Tennessee continued to experience low unemployment in May, 90 of the state’s counties did see a slight uptick in their rates, one county remained the same, and unemployment dropped in four counties
“It’s not unusual to see a minimal increase in local unemployment rates at the start of the summer season,” explained TDLWD Commissioner Jeff McCord. “May is a month of transition; many high school and college graduates enter the workforce for the first time during the month and most school personnel start their summer break in May.”
At 2.2 percent, Williamson County currently has the state’s lowest unemployment rate. That represents a 0.3 of a percentage point increase when compared to April.
Davidson County also experienced an uptick in its unemployment rate, increasing from 2 percent in April to 2.3 percent in May.
While Clay County has Tennessee’s highest unemployment for the month, its new rate of 5.4 percent is still 0.2 of a percentage point lower than it was in April. Hancock County recorded the second highest rate in May at 5.3 percent, a 0.4 percentage point increase from the previous month.
Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate experienced a slight uptick in May. For three consecutive months, it remained at the all-time low of 3.2 percent but increased by 0.1 of a percentage point when compared to April’s rate.
Nationally, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6 percent, mirroring April’s national rate.
County unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted, while the state and national rate use the seasonal adjustment to eliminate outside influences on the statistics.