Nearly all Tennessee counties continued to have unemployment rates below 5.0 percent in October 2017, following a record-breaking September when, for the first time ever, each of the state’s 95 counties experienced a rate below 5.0 percent. October marked the fifth consecutive month Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate was in record territory, matching the all-time low of 3.0 percent set the month before.
Cannon County’s unemployment rate was 2.8 for the month of October, one tenth of a percentage point higher than September’s 2.7 percent rate. Out of an estimated work force of 6290 people, 6110 were employed while 180 were unemployed.
Coffee County’s unemployment rose slightly to three percent, while Dekalb also rose to 3.8 percent. Other surrounding counties unemployment rate include Rutherford continued to stay the same in October at 2.3 percent while Wilson had a 2.4 October rate. Warren County had the biggest increase of surrounding counties going from a three percent to a 3.5 percent rate in October.
“To have so many counties under 5.0 percent unemployment, as we head into the holiday season, is a good thing,” said Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips. “It means more Tennesseans are able to provide for their families and that is the goal of Governor Haslam’s workforce initiatives.”
Looking at the entire state, October unemployment rates decreased in four counties, remained the same in seven counties and increased in 84 counties. Ninety-three of Tennessee’s 95 counties continue to have unemployment rates below 5.0 percent.
