WMOT 89.5 | LISTENER-POWERED RADIO INDEPENDENT AMERICAN ROOTS
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Tenn. labor officials call county-level jobless numbers 'staggering'

Tenn. Dept. Labor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  The Tennessee Department of Labor has released county-level unemployment numbers for the month of April, and the new figures are mind-boggling.

In Middle Tennessee, Maury County has reported the area’s highest jobless rate, now standing at 22 percent. Williamson County has the best numbers locally at 10.4 percent. Davidson County reports unemployment at 15.9 percent. Rutherford County stands at 16.7 percent.

Tourism dependent Sevier County is reporting the state’s highest unemployment rate at 29.5 percent. Fayette County now enjoys Tennessee’s lowest rate at 9.4 percent.

The statewide average jobless rate for April is 14.7 percent, up more than 11 percent from the March reading. The U.S. national rate also stands at 14.7 percent.

 

To date, state labor officials report some 558,000 Tennesseans have applied for unemployment benefits since the pandemic began shuttering businesses in March.

Related Content