Tennessee had only four counties in March with an unemployment rate of less than 5 percent.
This means that 96 percent of Tennessee counties had an unemployment rate below this mark.
Those counties are Pickett (5.7 percent), Hardeman (5.2 percent), Johnson (5.1 percent), and Cocke (5 percent).
All of these counties have a population of less than 40,000 people.
Despite having low populations, Pickett, Cocke, and Johnson counties saw significant decreases in their unemployment rates from February.
Cocke County saw its rate decrease by 1.5 percent, while Johnson County’s rate experienced a 0.7 percent drop, and Pickett County’s rate diminished by 0.6 percent.
The counties with the lowest unemployment rates were Williamson County and Cheatham County at 2.4 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. In addition, Rutherford, Wilson, and Knox counties had an unemployment rate of 2.7 percent.
Overall, the jobless rate in Tennessee is 3.6 percent, which is less than the national average of 4.2 percent. The state’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points from February.
Tennessee is tied with three other states – Georgia, Connecticut, and Florida – with America’s 18th lowest unemployment rate.
American states with the lowest jobless rates are South Dakota, at 1.8 percent, and North Dakota and Vermont, at 2.6 percent.
Nevada has the nation’s highest unemployment rate at 5.7 percent. Washington D.C. (5.6 percent) and Michigan (5.5 percent) come in second and third place.
Tennessee’s biggest city, Nashville, had a March unemployment rate of 2.7 percent. The state’s second-largest city, Memphis, had a jobless rate of 4.2 percent.
Other large cities in Tennessee, such as Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Clarksville, had unemployment rates of 2.9 percent, 3.2 percent, and 4.1 percent, respectively.
Among the state’s five largest cities, Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville saw a decrease in their unemployment rate from February.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
