Following a slight rise in the statewide unemployment rate in March, jobless statistics experienced minor increases in most of Tennessee’s 95 counties, according to newly released data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).
Five counties across the state did experience lower unemployment for the month, while rates went up in 86 counties, and remained the same in four counties.
Coffee County’s unemployment rate comes in at 4.9 percent, which is up 0.3 from the 4.6 percent reported in February.
Coffee County’s increase in unemployment rate comes while many businesses are struggling to find employees, with some reducing services and limiting hours. Mercantile Café Bakery & Gift Shop closed for its normal Friday night dinner last week due to not having employees to work. A quick Indeed job search shows 766 available jobs in Coffee County – jobs with varying pay and requirements.
Thirty-two of Tennessee’s counties had a jobless rate of less than 5%. The remaining 63 counties recorded a rate of 5% or higher.
Williamson County’s jobless statistic of 3.3% was the lowest in the state. Its March rate was 0.3 of a percentage point higher than it was in February.
At 3.6%, Moore County posted the second-lowest rate in the state but that is a 0.1 of a percentage point increase from the previous month. Wilson County’s rate of 4% was the third lowest in March, which is an increase of 0.3 of a percentage point. Unemployment in Lake County decreased by 0.1 of a percentage point to 8.9%, which is the state’s highest rate for the month.
Perry County’s rate of 7.5% was 0.2 of a percentage point higher than the previous month’s rate. Unemployment in Bledsoe county went up 0.5 of a percentage point to 7.4%.
Statewide, seasonally adjusted unemployment inched up 0.1 of a percentage point to 5% in March.
Nationally, unemployment dropped 0.2 of a percentage point to 6%.
A complete analysis of the March 2021 Tennessee county unemployment data is available here.
The state offers online options for Tennesseans searching for employment. Currently, on Jobs4TN.gov, job seekers can find more than 240,000 open positions in a wide range of occupations and skill levels. The Tennessee Virtual American Job Center www.TNVirtualAJC.com allows Tennesseans to research different programs, from different state agencies that can help them remove barriers to employment so they can more easily reenter the workforce.
