June Unemployment Rates Decrease in Majority of Tennessee Counties

NASHVILLE – Unemployment rates in a vast majority of Tennessee’s 95 counties continued to drop in June, according to new data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Seventy-four counties had lower jobless rates for the month, as Tennessee continues to reopen after many businesses closed in the spring to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Unemployment did increase slightly in 17 counties during the month and remained the same in four counties.

Williamson County recorded the lowest unemployment rate in June. At 6.7%, the rate dropped 0.4 of a percentage point when compared to May’s rate.

Crockett County’s rate of 6.8% was Tennessee’s second-lowest figure for the month, down 0.3 of a percentage point from May. Pickett County had the third-lowest rate at 7.2%, down a 0.5 of a percentage point.

Shelby County had the state’s highest rate of unemployment in June. Its figure jumped 1.8 percentage points to 13.2%.

Grundy County was just below Shelby County at 13.1%, which represents a 3.8 percentage point drop from May’s rate of 16.9%.

Knoxville had the lowest unemployment rate among Tennessee’s three largest cities at 9.5%, which is a 0.3 of a percentage point decrease from the month before. Nashville had a rate of 12.1%, down 0.2 of a percentage point from May. Memphis saw a 2.4 percentage point increase in unemployment between May and June to 12.1%.

Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate decreased for the second consecutive month. The June 2020 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 9.7%, down 1.3 percentage points from May’s revised rate of 11%.

Nationally, seasonally adjusted unemployment dropped by 2.2 percentage points in June, going from 13.3% to 11.1%.

A complete analysis of the June 2020 Tennessee county unemployment data can be found here.

The state of Tennessee will release the statewide unemployment rate for July 2020 Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, at 1:30 p.m. CT.