Despite small increases in September, state jobless numbers remain low
Nashville – Ninety-three of Tennessee’s 95 counties recorded unemployment rates below 5% in September, while statewide unemployment inched up for the month, according to the latest data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the month of September was 3.2%. That is up 0.1 of a percentage point when compared to the August rate of 3.1%, which was Tennessee’s all-time low.
Unemployment in seven Tennessee counties decreased in September when compared to August statistics. Eighty counties recorded a small increase in unemployment, while eight counties matched their rates from the previous month.
Moore and Sevier counties had the state’s lowest unemployment rates for September. In Moore County, the 2.6% rate marked a 0.2 of a percentage increase from August, while the rate went up just 0.1 of a percentage point in Sevier County.
Bledsoe County came in with the highest unemployment for September. Its rate of 5.4% was 0.2 of a percentage point higher than the previous month. Lauderdale County had the second-highest rate at 5.3%, which accounted for a 0.5 a percentage point decrease from its 5.8% rate in August.
A complete overview of county unemployment data for Sept. 2023, including labor force estimates for local areas across the state, is available here.
Data released earlier this month marked Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted Sept. 2023 unemployment rate at 3.2%, while the national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged between August and September at 3.8%.
Image by Drazen Zigic on Freepik.
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