(The Center Square) – Unemployment increased in every Tennessee county in June except for Maury, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The rise in rates is attributed to the summer break, when school employees who are not paid year-round file for unemployment, the department said. The county numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
The lowest unemployment rate in the state, 3%, was in Cheatham and Sevier counties, according to the department. Cheatham, west of Nashville, experienced a jump of six-tenths of a percentage point. Sevier County, home to the popular tourist destinations Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, experienced a four-tenths of a percentage point increase, according to the department.
The highest unemployment rate is in Perry County, a small county in middle Tennessee. The rate was 6%, a seven-tenths of a percentage point increase from May, according to the department. Hancock County followed with a 5.7% unemployment rate. Pickett County had the third-highest rate at 5.6%.
Tennessee’s overall unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in June. The national unemployment rate is 4.2%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state added 2,500 jobs from May to June. The private education and health services sector added the most jobs, followed by the durable goods and manufacturing sector.
