Only one county in Tennessee had an unemployment rate above 5 percent in May.
Perry County, which has an estimated population of 10,000, had a jobless rate of 5.3 percent, according to state government data. The rural county’s unemployment rate remained unchanged from April.
On the other hand, the remaining 94 counties in Tennessee had unemployment rates below 5 percent. The counties with the lowest unemployment rates were Williamson, Cheatham, Dickson, and Knox counties.
Williamson County had a jobless rate of 2.4 percent, while Cheatham, Dickson, and Knox counties had a jobless rate of 2.5 percent.
Besides Perry County, the other Tennessee counties with the highest unemployment rates were Hancock and Pickett counties. Both of these counties had an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent.
In Tennessee, the state’s May unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, which is below the national average of 4.3 percent. The Volunteer State has the 15th lowest unemployment rate in America, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
May marks the fourth consecutive month Tennessee has had a jobless rate of 3.6 percent.
According to Investopedia, unemployment rates below 5 percent are considered full employment. “This level of unemployment is enough to minimize inflation and allow workers to move between jobs,” it says.
Year over year, Tennessee added 8,000 jobs, with the largest increases in health care and social assistance, administrative, support, and waste services, and leisure and hospitality, according to state government data.
The healthcare and social assistance industry saw an increase of 10,000 jobs during this time span while, administrative, support and waste services gained 7,300 jobs.
Furthermore, the leisure and hospitality industry gained 4,800 jobs.
The industries that lost the most jobs year over year were non–durable goods manufacturing, retail trade, and the federal government.
Tennessee’s non-durable goods manufacturing sector lost 4,100 jobs during this period. Retail trade and the federal government lost 3,700 jobs and 3,600 jobs, respectively.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
