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After several months of a steady or falling unemployment rate, Scott County’s jobless rate was on the rise again in December, jumping 1.1% to 18.8%.
According to figures released last week by the Tennessee Dept. of Labor & Workforce Development, Scott County’s estimated labor force in December was 8,200, with 6,660 being employed and 1,550 without work.
The local numbers were part of a statewide trend that saw the unemployment rate increase in 91 counties and decrease in only one.
Among neighboring counties, Pickett County witnessed the most significant unemployment rate increase. The jobless rate there jumped two points, to 17.4%. In Fentress County, the unemployment rate jumped 1.2% to 13.9%. In Anderson County, the unemployment rate climbed from 8.9% to 10.0%. Morgan County’s unemployment rate climbed from 11.6% to 12.3%, while Campbell County’s jumped from 12.8% to 13.5%.
Scott County’s unemployment rate just missed returning to the top of the list in December. Lauderdale and Marshall counties each posted an unemployment rate of 18.9%.
Lincoln County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate, at 7.1%.
Among major metropolitan areas, Knox County posted the lowest rate, at 8.1%, up 0.4%. Hamilton County’s jobless rate was up a half-point to 8.9%, while Davidson County’s jobless rate climbed four-tenths of a point to 9.2%. Shelby County’s unemployment rate was 10.3%, up from 10.0% in November.
Statewide, the unemployment rate was 10.9%, up from 10.2% in November. The national jobless rate was unchanged at 10.0%.
