Unemployment data shows 94 counties experienced decreased jobless numbers in March
Nashville – Clay County finished March with a 4.6% unemployment rate. That put them as 90th of 95 counties and in the bottom five in unemployment percentage for the state.
Across the rest of the Upper Cumberland unemployment stayed pretty steady. Coffee County finished with 3.2%, Cumberland sits at 3.7% and DeKalb County sits at 3.7%.
Fentress County sits at 3.8% while Jackson County landed at 3.9% and Macon County sits at 3%. Overton County has a 3.7% unemployment rate while Putnam County landed at 3.3% and Warren County sits at 4%. White County lands at 3.4%, Van Buren is at 4.4% and Smith County ended the month with 2.9%.
County Unemployment
The Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) data shows unemployment rates improved in nearly every county across Tennessee in March 2023.
Ninety-four of Tennessee’s 95 counties experienced a decrease in unemployment during March. Only one county saw an uptick in its jobless number and that was Meigs County, where the rate increased by 0.7 of a percentage point to 5.6%.
Unemployment is less than 5% in 91 counties across Tennessee, while it is 5% or greater, but less than 10%, in the remaining four counties. Moore and Williamson counties reported the lowest unemployment for the month, with both having a rate of 2.3%. That number is 0.2 of a percentage point lower for Moore County and 0.3 of a percentage point lower for Williamson County when compared to the previous month.
Cheatham and Rutherford counties had the next lowest rate at 2.4%. The rates for both counties dropped by 0.3 of a percentage point between Feb. and March. Meigs County’s rate of 5.6% was the highest in the state for the month. Bledsoe County had the second-highest jobless number at 5.3%, which was a 0.6 of a percentage point drop from its Feb. rate of 5.9%.
Statewide, seasonally adjusted unemployment dropped slightly in March. After five consecutive months at 3.5%, the rate dipped 0.1 of a percentage point to 3.4%. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted rate for March also decreased by 0.1 of a percentage point from 3.6% to 3.5%.
A complete analysis of the March 2023 Tennessee county unemployment data is available here.
UCBJ File photo.
