Six UC counties better state unemployment rate in December

UPPER CUMBERLAND – Most Upper Cumberland counties saw a dip in unemployment in December as the region is seemingly mirroring a trend statewide: Over the past two months, Tennessee’s joblessness has decreased from 8.5 percent to 7.8 percent. The labor force is also the lowest since March 2010, while unemployment figures are the lowest since October 2008, the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development said this week.

Besides Overton, all UC counties saw improvements over their December 2012 numbers. And six bettered Tennessee’s rate of 7.8 percent. Cannon County led the pack with the lowest rate in the region at 5.6 percent, which is down 0.2 percentage points from its November number of 5.8. Following were Macon (6.1), Smith (6.2), Putnam (6.6), DeKalb (6.8) and Warren (7.6).

Overton County was down month-to-month, but its rate of 7.9 was 0.3 percentage points higher than December last year. Fentress had a slight drop to settle at 8.0 percent, while Cumberland County saw an increase, although its mark of 8.8 percent is down 0.4 percentage points from December 2012. Jackson County’s rate of 8.9 is 0.3 percentage points less than its November number (9.2).

Still in double digits was Pickett – the sole UC county to hold that distinction, but several others were close, including White (9.6), Van Buren (9.7) and Clay (9.8). Those three have been drops both month-to-month and year-to-year.

The state unemployment rate of 7.8 was 0.3 percentage points better than its revised November rate of 8.1. The national unemployment rate, meanwhile, was 6.7 percent, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from the previous month.