Shelby County Jobless Rate at 5.6, More than Double Williamson County’s Rate

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development recently released county unemployment data for the month of August.

According to the data, all but six Tennessee counties recorded unemployment rates below 5 percent. The counties that recorded rates above 5 percent were Perry (5.6), Bledsoe (5.4), Shelby (5.3), Lake (5.3), Lauderdale (5.1), and Haywood (5.1).

Additional counties that saw high unemployment percentages during the month of August include McNairy (4.8), Rhea (4.8), Cocke (4.), and Wayne (4.7%).

The counties that saw the lowest unemployment rates were Williamson – turning in the lowest number at 2.3 percent – followed by Cheatham (2.5), Moore (2.6), Wilson (2.6), Sevier (2.6), Sumner (2.7), Rutherford (2.7), Trousdale (2.8), Robertson (2.8), and Hickman (2.9).

The county that saw the largest difference in its unemployment rate from the previous month’s data was Grundy County, which had a rate of 4.3 percent in August – down 1.3 of a percentage point from its July rate of 5.6 percent.

As previously reported by The Tennessee Star, statewide data showed that the jobless rate in the Volunteer State increased by 0.1 percent from the month of July, bringing August’s rate to 3.4 percent. Nationally, according to data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in August was 3.7 percent.

Yes, Every Kid

Unemployment rates for both Tennessee and the entire county as a whole dropped from one year prior. In August 2021, the state of Tennessee had an unemployment rate of  4.0 percent while the national rate was 5.2 percent.

Unlike statewide unemployment rates, county unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted to account for different impacts on the workforce, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development notes in a press release.

With September being National Workforce Development Month, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development urges job seekers within the state to visit the Tennessee Office of Reentry (tnworkready.com) in order to find online and in-person resources to secure employment. In addition, there are currently over 400,000 job openings posted from employers in and around Tennessee on the labor department’s website, jobs4tn.gov

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Construction Worker” by Burst.

 

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3 Thoughts to “Shelby County Jobless Rate at 5.6, More than Double Williamson County’s Rate”

  1. Cannoneer2

    It appears that no one wants to work in Lake County either. Lazy grifters…

  2. Ms Independent

    The majority of Shelby county residents don’t want to work and spend their gov checks on playing the lottery which is why a lot of lottery winners come from there. Hmmm…

    1. 83ragtop50

      MS – Thank you for saying what I was thinking. But, just think the Ford manufacturing facility will provide lots of jobs – well maybe. But at what cost to Tennessee taxpayers? A billion dollars – plus!

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