Rutherford County, TN - Nearly every county in Tennessee ended 2022 with lower unemployment rates, according to the December 2022 data released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. In the report, Rutherford County is ranked in the number five position for having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state at 2.3%.
When further examining Rutherford County numbers, it appears that Smyrna and Murfreesboro are both tied with a 2.3% jobless rate for December, which is 0.1 percentage points lower than December of 2021. When comparing month-to-month changes, Murfreesboro's unemployment numbers fell -0.4 percentage points between November and December from 2.7% to 2.3%. Smyrna saw a -0.2 point drop between November and December, going from 2.5% to 2.3%. LaVergne's unemployment rate also dropped between November and December, going from 2.6% (Nov.) to 2.4% (Dec.). Looking back to December of 2021, the unemployment rate for LaVergne was at 2.6%, which means the rate 12-months prior was 0.2 points higher than December of 2022's rate at 2.4%.
Additional Counties in TN - Eighty-nine of the state’s 95 counties reported rates that decreased in December. Three counties experienced steady unemployment during the month, while unemployment increased in the remaining three counties.
Williamson County led the state with the lowest unemployment rate. At 2.1%, the county’s rate dropped 0.4 of a percentage point from the revised November rate.
Cheatham, Moore, and Wilson counties had the next lowest rate in the state at 2.2%. In Cheatham and Moore counties, the December rate dropped 0.3 of a percentage point when compared to the previous month. Wilson County’s rate was down 0.4 of a percentage point.
Bledsoe County’s rate was the highest in the state, but at 5.3%, unemployment in the county did drop by 0.1 of a percentage point in December.
With a rate of 4.8%, Perry County had the next highest unemployment for the month. Its rate was down 0.2 of a percentage point when compared to the previous month’s rate. Lake County’s unemployment ranked next on the list at 4.7%, down from a rate of 4.8% in November.
An in-depth analysis of Tennessee’s December 2022 county unemployment data is available here.
Statewide, Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady in December at 3.5%. Nationally, unemployment for the month dropped from 3.6% to 3.5%.
Unlike statewide unemployment rates, county data is not seasonally adjusted to take into consideration seasonal impacts on unemployment.
Employers across the state need a skilled and qualified workforce to help their businesses grow, which will help the state’s economy continue to thrive. Job seekers in Tennessee can search through hundreds of thousands of job openings at Jobs4TN.gov. They can also learn more about free Adult Education or college prep classes, find a Registered Apprenticeship Program to become a part of, or locate the American Job Center closest to them by logging onto TNWorkReady.com.
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