October 25, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
The unemployment rates in each of Tennessee’s 95 counties decreased in September, according to new data released by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
DeKalb County’s unemployment rate for September was at 6.1%, down from 8.5% in August but still higher than the 3.8% rate for September 2019.
The September labor force in DeKalb County was 7,512 . A total of 7,053 were employed and 459 were without work.
Twenty-seven counties recorded unemployment rates below 5%, while 68 counties have a rate of 5% or higher. There are no counties with an unemployment rate higher than 10% in September.
Once again, Moore County has the state’s lowest unemployment rate. Its September figure of 3.2% is 1.9 percentage points lower than the previous month’s rate.
Shelby County continues to have Tennessee’s highest unemployment. While its September rate is 9.9%, the new figure represents a drop of 3.7 percentage points from where it was in August.
The rate in Memphis dropped 4.2 percentage points to 12.1%. Nashville’s September rate is down 3.1 percentage points and sits at 7.5%. Knoxville saw a 2.4 percentage point drop in its rate which is now 5.8%. Unemployment in the Tri-Cities area stands at 5.3% for the month, down 1.9 percentage points from its revised August rate.
Statewide, unemployment dropped to its lowest level in September since hitting an all-time high in April during the peak of COVID-19 business closures. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the month is 6.3%, a decrease of 2.3 percentage points from the revised August rate of 8.6%.
Unemployment also decreased nationally in September. The seasonally adjusted rate for the United States is 7.9%, down 0.5 of a percentage point from August’s revised rate of 8.4%. Tennessee’s unemployment rate is now 1.6 percentage points lower than the national rate.
Businesses across Tennessee are ready to help the state’s economy rebound by reemploying out of work individuals. Jobs4TN.gov, Tennessee’s workforce development website, currently has 219,000 open positions for all job skill levels.
Jobs4TN.gov also offers online assistance with writing a resume that will catch the attention of employers, advice on how to engage and impress during job interviews, and details about potential job training opportunities.
There are more than 80 American Job Centers across Tennessee that are open for business and offering job seekers one-on-one personalized assistance. Career specialists are ready to work with individuals to devise a reemployment plan that will help them rejoin the state’s workforce.
All the assistance is free to anyone who needs help finding a new job or career path.