Rutherford County, TN - The Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) released new data today that showed unemployment rates improved in nearly every county across Tennessee this past March. Ninety-four of Tennessee’s 95 counties experienced a decrease in unemployment during March. Only one county saw an uptick in its jobless number and that was Meigs County, where the rate increased by +0.7 of a percentage point to 5.6%.
The Rutherford County jobless rate was tied with Cheatham County - - both coming in at numbers 3 and 4 on the list for the top ten counties with the lowest unemployment rate in Tennessee. Rates for both counties dropped by -0.3 of a percentage points between February and March.
Smyrna, at 2.4% had the lowest unemployment rate in Rutherford County. Smyrna's rate was 0.3 points lower than the 2.7% jobless rate the town recorded in February. Smyrna's rate was also -0.1 points lower than their 2.5% figure that was reported in March of 2022.
Murfreesboro's unemployment figure rang in at 2.5% this past month, which is -0.3 points lower than the February unemployment number. Murfreesboro's jobless figure is also 0.2-points lower than March of last year (2022).
In Rutherford County, LaVergne had the highest unemployment rate, which was actually quite low. LaVergne's unemployment rate for March of this year was 2.6%. LaVergne's jobless rate for March dropped by -0.2 points when compared to the previous month of February. When looking back to the same month in 2022, LaVergne's unemployment rate was exactly the same... 2.6% in March of 2022 and 2023.
Throughout the state, unemployment is less than 5% in 91 counties across Tennessee, while it is 5% or greater, but less than 10%, in the remaining four counties.
Moore and Williamson counties reported the lowest unemployment for the month, with both having a rate of 2.3%. That number is 0.2 of a percentage point lower for Moore County and 0.3 of a percentage point lower for Williamson County when compared to the previous month.
Meigs County’s rate of 5.6% was the highest in the state for the month.
Bledsoe County had the second-highest jobless number at 5.3%, which was a 0.6 of a percentage point drop from its February rate of 5.9%.
Statewide, seasonally adjusted unemployment dropped slightly in March. After five consecutive months at 3.5%, the rate dipped 0.1 of a percentage point to 3.4%.
Nationally, the seasonally adjusted rate for March also decreased by 0.1 of a percentage point from 3.6% to 3.5%.
A complete analysis of the March 2023 Tennessee county unemployment data is available here.
While unemployment is down across the state, thousands of Tennesseans continue to look for new or better jobs. TNWorkReady.com has a listing of resources available to help you find a new career or advance in your current job situation.
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