After months of hovering near the top, Scott County’s unemployment rate became the highest among Tennessee’s 95 counties in July, according to figures released last week by the Dept. of Labor & Workforce Development.
However, there was very little movement in the local jobless rate from June to July. The unemployment rate increased slightly from 19.5% to 19.6%.
Rather, Scott County’s move to the top of the list was due to jobless rate decreases in Perry County and Lauderdale County, each of which had higher unemployment rates in June.
Perry County, which has benefited from a federal stimulus project that is estimated to provide 300 jobs, saw its jobless rate drop 2.8% in June, from 22.1% to 19.3%.
Lauderdale County’s unemployment rate dropped from 19.7% to 19.5%.
Locally, there were 6,810 persons employed in July, of an estimated work force of 8,470, with 1,660 persons claiming unemployment benefits.
In a month that saw the unemployment rate decrease slightly on the state (10.8% from 11.1%) and national level (9.4% from 9.5%), Scott was one of just 14 counties across Tennessee to post an increased jobless rate.
Each county adjoining Scott posted a moderate unemployment decrease in July, due more in part to expiring unemployment benefits for out-of-work employees than new jobs being added to the roles.
Anderson County’s jobless rate decreased seven-tenths of a point to 10.1% in July, while Campbell County’s unemployment rate decreased two-tenths of a point to 13.5%. In Fentress County, the jobless rate dropped 0.6% to 13.4%, while in Morgan County it dropped from 13.5% to 12.6%. Pickett County’s jobless rate dropped from 14.7% to 14.2%.
Seventy-nine Tennessee counties had an unemployment rate of at least 10% in July. Lincoln County’s unemployment rate was the state’s lowest, at 6.9%.
