Cocke County jobless rate ticks up slightly

The Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development (TDLWD) released its monthly county unemployment rates on Thursday for the month of May, 2024. According to its report, Cocke County saw a slight increase in the rate from the previous month, coming in at 3.5% in May, up from 3.4% in April.

Notably, the May 2024 unemployment rate reported for Cocke County was still 13% less than one year ago when the rate stood at 3.9%.

Cocke County was far from the only county to see its rate increase over last month, as it joined 85 other Tennessee counties with higher unemployment rates than the previous month. Only three counties had a rate decrease, while six others remained unchanged.

Despite the overwhelming majority of counties showing an increase, the state was still able to report that its overall seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3% for May set an all-time record as most of the increases, like that in Cocke County, were nearly negligible. The statewide unemployment rate for April stood at 3.1%.

County unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Sevier County, along with Williamson County in Middle Tennessee, posted the lowest May jobless rates at 2.1%. Sevier County’s number was unchanged from April while Williamson County’s rate was up from 2% in April.

Among other neighboring counties, Green County’s jobless rate increased from 3.1% to 3.6%. Jefferson County increased from 2.8% to 3% and Hamblen County also posted a marginal increase from 2.8% to 2.9%.

Bledsoe County posted the highest unemployment rate in the state in May at 4.4%, up from 3.9% in April.