By Daniel Richardson
Publisher
More Madison Countians are heading to work according to data released last week by the Tennessee Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development. According to the report, Madison County’s unemployment rate dropped from 3.6 percent at the end of 2023 to 2.8 percent on February 1, reporting that only 1,381 of Madison County’s labor force of 49,007 remained unemployed. Data for March will be available on April 18.
All 95 counties in Tennessee showed an improved unemployment situation when compared to their revised January numbers. The decrease in unemployment across the state led each county to post rates under 5 percent in February.
Moore County had the lowest unemployment in Tennessee with a remarkable rate of 1.9 percent. That represented a 0.8 of a percentage point drop from its January number.
Williamson County had the state’s second-lowest rate of the month at 2.1 percent, a 0.4 of a percentage point drop, followed by Rutherford County, which decreased from 2.7 percent to 2.2 percent in February.
While Cocke County had the highest jobless number in February at 4.7 percent, the county’s rate was down 1 percentage point when compared to January’s rate. Bledsoe County recorded the state’s next highest unemployment rate at 4.5 percent, which was down 0.8 of a percentage point from the previous month. Lauderdale County followed with a rate of 4.4 percent but also had one of the biggest decreases for the month, with a 1.2 percentage point drop.
As reported on March 21, the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February was 3.3 percent, down from 3.5 percent in January.
Nationally, unemployment increased by 0.2 of a percentage point during the month to 3.9 percent.
Unlike the statewide unemployment rate, county unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted to take into account factors such as holidays or weather events.
The state of Tennessee will release the unemployment data for March on Thursday, April 18, at 1:30 p.m.
