UPPER CUMBERLAND – A handful of Upper Cumberland counties bettered the state’s unemployment rate in August, as the region rebounded from a slightly higher-than-normal reporting in July.
Macon (5.2), Smith (5.3) and Cannon (5.7) had the lowest jobless numbers in the region, according to Tennessee Department of Labor data released Thursday. All 14 counties saw month-to-month decreases in unemployment, and the region as a whole saw a full 1.0 percentage point swing.
Rounding out the region were Warren (5.9), White (6.0), Putnam (6.1), Overton (6.6), Pickett (6.6), Cumberland (6.7), DeKalb (7.1), Fentress (7.3), Van Buren (7.5), Jackson (7.6) and Clay (7.9).
Tennessee’s unemployment rate for August was 5.8 percent, a 0.6 percentage point decrease from July. Overall, rates dropped in 93 Tennessee counties and increased in two.
The national unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) in August was 5.2 percent, a 0.4 percent decrease from the previous month.
| Counties | August | July | August 2014 |
| Cannon | 5.7 | 6.3 | 6.8 |
| Clay | 7.9 | 9.6 | 8.4 |
| Cumberland | 6.7 | 7.5 | 8.1 |
| DeKalb | 7.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Fentress | 7.3 | 8.5 | 8.8 |
| Jackson | 7.6 | 8.8 | 8.8 |
| Macon | 5.2 | 6.1 | 6.7 |
| Overton | 6.6 | 8.3 | 8.1 |
| Pickett | 6.6 | 8.2 | 8.3 |
| Putnam | 6.1 | 7.0 | 7.4 |
| Smith | 5.3 | 6.4 | 6.5 |
| Van Buren | 7.5 | 9.1 | 9.7 |
| Warren | 5.9 | 7.0 | 7.2 |
| White | 6.0 | 6.8 | 7.8 |
| UC | 6.3 | 7.3 | 7.7 |
| TN* | 5.8 | 6.4 | 7.2 |
*Non-seasonally adjusted
