March 20, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
Most of Tennessee’s 95 counties including DeKalb started 2021 with lower unemployment numbers, according to data released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Seventy-eight counties began the new year with a decrease in unemployment. The jobless rate remained the same in seven counties and increased in ten counties.
In DeKalb County, the jobless rate for January was 5.4%, down from 6.4% in December but still slightly higher than the 5.1% rate recorded in January 2020.
The local labor force for January, 2021 was 7,659. A total of 7,243 were employed while 416 were out of work.
Rates in 24 counties came in under 5% for the month. The remaining counties, 71 out of the 95, have rates higher than 5%, but less than 10%.
Williamson County recorded the state’s lowest unemployment rate. The new rate of 3.2% is down 0.6 of a percentage point from the December 2020 statistic. Moore County followed Williamson with a rate of 3.8%, down 0.3 of a percentage point from December. Cheatham County had the third-lowest rate at 3.9%, a decrease from 4.4%.
Cocke County had Tennessee’s highest unemployment in January. It increased by 2 percentage points in January to 8.5%. Lake County’s rate was the second-highest at 8.4 percent, which represents a 0.8 of a percentage point drop from December’s rate of 9.2%. Hardeman County had the third-highest rate, but at 7.8%, the county saw unemployment drop by 0.1 of a percentage point.
Statewide, unemployment was down in January. Tennessee started 2021 with a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.1%, down 0.5 of a percentage point from December.
The national unemployment rate for January is 6.3%, down 0.4 of a percentage point.
Tennesseans searching for employment can find over 230,000 job openings for every skill level, in every area of the state, on Jobs4TN.gov. They can also utilize the service matcher, which can help remove barriers to employment by matching the job seeker with services from several state agencies. The service matcher is located within the virtual American Job Center at TNVirtualAJC.com.