Scott Jobless Rate Up In April; Tops State Unemployment Rates At 22.1%

Nashville, TN (2011-05-27) The jobless rate in Scott County edged up slightly in April, topping out at 22.1 percent for month. Despite the bad economic news, local business and industry have reported recent improvements in the jobs market, meaning the rate should decline in coming months.

According to the latest statistics from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the unemployment rate in Scott County for April was 22.1 percent, an increase of 0.3 of a percentage point over the month. For the fourteenth consecutive month, Scott County posted the highest jobless rate in the state. A year ago, the unemployment rate in Scott County was 18.7 percent.

In counties contiguous to Scott, the jobless rate increased in two, decreased in two and remained unchanged in the other. Morgan and Anderson Counties reported increases in unemployment in April. In March, the jobless rate in Morgan County was 10.2 percent. In April, the rate climbed to 10.8 percent, an increase of 0.6 percentage point. Likewise, the rate increased in Anderson County. The April jobless figure for Anderson County was 8.8 percent, an increase of 0.2 percentage point over the month. Fentress and Pickett Counties both experienced decreases in unemployment. Pickett County’s April jobless rate was 14.7 percent, a decrease of 1.6 percent from March. Fentress County experienced a 0.4 percentage point decline in joblessness, reporting an April rate of 11.5 percent. The unemployment rate remained unchanged in Campbell County, which reported an April rate of 12.4 percent.

Despite the poor economic news, the jobs market in Scott County has improved recently, which should lead to lower unemployment numbers in the near future. While new job creation has been slow, several local employers have recently called-back laid- off employees and are expecting to hire more employees to meet market demand. In all, up to 300 persons have returned to work recently. In addition, a couple of local industries have landed new contracts, which has and should result in the creation of up to 100 news jobs in the coming months.

Tennessee’s unemployment rate for April was 9.6 percent, up 0.1 from the March rate. The national unemployment rate for April 2011 was 9.0 percent, 0.2 percentage point higher than the March rate. The rate decreased in 46 Tennessee counties, increased in 41 counties, and stayed the same in eight counties.

Lincoln County registered the state's lowest county unemployment rate at 6.6 percent, up from the March rate of 6.1 percent. Scott County had the state’s highest unemployment rate, followed by Marshall County at 14.9 percent, down from the March rate of 15.0 percent. Other counties with high unemployment included: Lauderdale County, 14.8%; Pickett County, 14.7%; Perry County, 14.6%; Hancock County, 14.0%; Haywood County, 13.9%; Grundy County, 13.7%; and Dyer County and Henderson County, both at 13.4%.

Knox County had the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate of 7.7 percent, up from 7.0 percent in March. Hamilton County was 8.2 percent, up from 8.1 percent the previous month. Davidson County was 8.8 percent, up from 8.3 percent in March, and Shelby County was 10.0 percent, unchanged from their March unemployment rate.