Tennessee’s county unemployment rates for March 2017 have decreased in 91 counties, increased in three, and remained the same in one, according to data released on Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).
For the month of March, Davidson County has the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate at 3.4 percent, a decline from 3.6 percent of the prior month. Knox County is 3.9 percent, decreasing from February’s 4.1 percent. Hamilton County declined from its previous month’s rate of 4.8 to 4.5 percent and Shelby County has an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent rate, a decrease from the previous 5.5 percent in February.
Preliminary unemployment rates for Tennessee and the U.S.
have fallen by two-tenths of a percentage point in March. The decline places rates at 5.1 and 4.5 percent, respectively.
The state and national unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted, while the county unemployment rates are not. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that eliminates the influences of weather, holidays, opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events from economic time series.
The Economic Analysis and Labor Force Estimates are prepared by the Employment Security division’s labor market information specialists. The division reports metrics and contextual information as it relates to employment, income, and population in Tennessee. Labor force topics are narrated in monthly newsletters and additional resources are available on Jobs4TN.gov.
The state unemployment release for April will be published on Thursday, May 18, at 1:30 p.m. CT.