Unemployment hits 5-year high
Bolstered by layoffs at local plants and a sagging regional economy that is reflective of what is happening across the state and the nation, Scott County’s unemployment rate reached its highest point in five years last month, climbing to 10.7%, according to figures from the State Dept. of Labor & Workforce Development.
The local jobless rate was the third-highest in the state in the month of June. Perry County had the state’s highest rate of unemployment, at 14.8%, and Lauderdale County posted an unemployment rate of 11.4%. Clay County also had a jobless rate of 10.7%.
The June rate marked an increase of two full percentage points from May, when the local jobless rate stood at 8.7% locally. The numbers are based on a local workforce of 8,670 persons, with 7,740 being employed in June and 930 being without work.
The local jump followed a statewide trend that saw increased jobless rates in all 95 Tennessee counties. In counties surrounding Scott, Anderson County saw an increase of seven-tenths of a percentage point to 6.1%. Campbell County’s rate jumped 1.6% to 8.4%. Fentress County’s jobless rate climbed six-tenths of a percentage point to 9.2%. Morgan County’s unemployment rate jumped one point to 8.4%. And Pickett County’s jobless rate increase 1.1% to 9.8%, making it the eighth-highest unemployment rate in the state.
The state’s lowest county unemployment rate was posted by Williamson County, which reported a jobless rate of 4.8%. Among metropolitan areas, Knoxville posted a jobless rate of 5.4%, up from 4.6% in May, while Nashville reported a jobless rate of 5.7%, up from 5.0% in May. Chattanooga’s jobless rate was 5.9%, up from 5.0% in May, and Memphis posted a jobless rate of 7.4%, up from 6.3% in May.
The state rate is 6.5%, up one-tenth of a point from May, while the national rate stood unchanged at 5.5%.
Scott County’s rate of unemployment stood at its highest point since 2003, when the jobless rate briefly topped 12%. In July 2003, the rate was 12.0%, but had declined to 8.3% by August 2003. Earlier this year, the rate briefly topped 10%, but had fallen back to single digits by the following month.