The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced today that 91 of Tennessee’s 95 counties reported unemployment rates of less than 5 percent for November, with unemployment rates decreasing in 17 counties.
Moore and Williamson counties recorded the state’s lowest unemployment rates for November at 2.6 percent. Those counties also reported rates of 2.6 percent in October.
Sevier County had the state’s next-lowest unemployment rate for the month. At 2.7 percent, the rate was one-tenth of a percentage point higher than in October.
Unicoi County in Northeast Tennessee recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate for November at 6 percent.
That was a two-tenths of a percentage point increase over its October rate of 5.8 percent.
Bledsoe County followed with a rate for November at 5.4 percent. Bledsoe’s rate in October was 5.1 percent.
McNairy County reported the third-highest rate for the month at 5.3 percent, an uptick of one-tenth of a percentage point over its October rate.
The unemployment rate in Weakley County — which reported the highest rate in Tennessee in October — dropped two full percentage points in November to 3.9 percent.
Unemployment rates remained the same in 30 counties, while rates in 48 counties increased from October to November.
Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in November. That rate was up two-tenths of a percentage point over the previous month but is still seven-tenths of a percentage point below the national rate of 4.2 percent.
Unlike the statewide rate, county rates are not adjusted to account for seasonal impacts on employment.
TDLWD has compiled an analysis of county unemployment data. That report is available here.
Tennessee will release statewide unemployment data for December on Jan. 23, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. CST