Today, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced that 91 of Tennessee’s 95 counties reported unemployment rates of less than 5% for November, with unemployment rates decreasing in 17 counties.
Hamilton County saw a slight uptick from 3.4% in October to 3.5% in November. The current rate is up from 3.0% in November of 2023. The entire Chattanooga metro region's unemployment rate of 3.4% is up a tenth of point from October, and up half a point from 2.9% a year ago.
Moore and Williamson counties recorded the state’s lowest unemployment rates for November at 2.6%. Those counties also reported rates of 2.6% in October. Sevier County had the state’s next-lowest unemployment rate for the month. At 2.7%, the rate was one-tenth of a percentage point higher than in October.
Unicoi County in Northeast Tennessee recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate for November at 6%. That was a two-tenths of a percentage point increase over its October rate of 5.8%. Bledsoe County followed with a rate for November at 5.4%. Bledsoe’s rate in October was 5.1%.
Unemployment rates remained the same in 30 counties, while rates in 48 counties increased from October to November.
Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5% in November. That rate was up two-tenths of a percentage point over the previous month but is still seven-tenths of a percentage point below the national rate of 4.2%. Unlike the statewide rate, county rates are not adjusted to account for seasonal impacts on employment.
TDLWD has compiled an analysis of county unemployment data. That report is available here.