COOKEVILLE – The Upper Cumberland continues to hover above state and national averages when it comes to unemployment, and rates were up across the board in the first month of the new year.
All 14 counties saw rates jump from December to January. Twelve are up year-over-year. The UC jobless rate stands at 6.6 percent for the month, while Tennessee and U.S. non-adjusted were 5.7 and 5.1 percent, respectively.
Cannon (5.1), Macon (5.2), Putnam (5.9) and Warren (5.6) recorded among the lowest rates in the region. Jackson (9.1) and Clay (8.9) and Pickett (8.2) had the highest rates among Upper Cumberland counties.
Rates are not seasonally adjusted.
| Counties | January 2017 | December 2016 | January 2016 |
| Cannon | 5.1 | 4.6 | 4.7 |
| Clay | 8.9 | 7.2 | 7.5 |
| Cumberland | 8.1 | 6.6 | 7.0 |
| DeKalb | 7.2 | 5.9 | 5.8 |
| Fentress | 6.8 | 6.0 | 6.9 |
| Jackson | 9.1 | 7.3 | 6.7 |
| Macon | 5.2 | 4.4 | 4.2 |
| Overton | 7.2 | 5.6 | 6.1 |
| Pickett | 8.2 | 7.5 | 7.9 |
| Putnam | 5.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Smith | 6.0 | 4.4 | 4.6 |
| Van Buren | 7.2 | 6.8 | 7.2 |
| Warren | 5.6 | 4.8 | 4.5 |
| White | 6.1 | 5.6 | 4.9 |
| UC | 6.6 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
| TN | 5.7 | 4.9 | 4.8 |
| US | 5.1 | 4.5 | 5.3 |
