September 25, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
Unemployment rates in nearly all of Tennessee’s counties decreased in August. This marks the second consecutive month the jobless situation has improved in 93 or more of the state’s 95 counties.
DeKalb County’s jobless rate for August was 4.4%, down from 5.2% in July and below the August 2020 rate of 7.5%.
The local labor force for August, 2021 was 7,660. A total of 7,321 were employed and 339 were without work.
August unemployment rates were lower in 93 counties across the state. The rate in Williamson County remained unchanged from July at 2.6%. Unemployment increased in Maury County from 4.2% to 4.5% in a month-to-month comparison.
Seventy-nine counties recorded unemployment rates of less than 5% for the month. The remaining 16 counties had August rates of 5% or greater, but less than 10%.
Williamson County continued to have Tennessee’s lowest unemployment rate in August. Moore County recorded the second-lowest rate at 2.7%, which was down 0.2 of a percentage point from its July rate.
Shelby County had the month’s highest unemployment rate at 6.7%. While it was the highest in the state, the county’s new rate represented a 0.8 of a percentage point decrease from July.
Unemployment in Perry County was the second highest at 6.6%, but that accounted for a 4 percentage point drop from its July rate of 10.6%.
Unemployment statewide improved for the third consecutive month in August. The rate ticked down from 4.7% to 4.6%.
Nationally, the jobless rate also improved in August. It decreased by 0.2 of a percentage point from 5.4% to 5.2%.
Unlike the statewide and national unemployment rates, county unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted to factor in seasonal economic influences such as school breaks and severe weather conditions.
This week, there are more than 470,000 open positions across Tennessee. The state is working to help unemployed Tennesseans become TN Work Ready, so they can successfully rejoin the workforce. Job seekers can find a multitude of online and in-person resources by visiting www.TNWorkReady.com.