Cocke County jobless rate improves again

Warmer weather and tourism bring more job opportunities and the April jobless numbers released Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development would seem to support that notion for Cocke County.

With tourist season just starting up in April and rafting underway, Cocke County’s unemployment rate showed a nearly 13% improvement over March figures, coming in at 3.4%, down from 3.9% in March, which was a 13% improvement over February.

Compared to February’s rate of 4.6%, Cocke County’s current rate marks a substantial 26% drop over the past two months. The county’s April 2024 rate also compares favorably to one year ago in April 2023, when its unemployment rate was 3.6%.

The current April rate brought more positive news for Cocke County’s job outlook, as the county no longer ranks among the state’s bottom 10 in unemployment rates.

Lauderdale and Clay counties recorded the state’s highest unemployment rates at 4.1% each. Rounding out the bottom 10 list of counties with the highest unemployment for April were Bledsoe at 3.9%, McNairy, Perry, Shelby, Meigs and Houston at 3.7%, Scott at 3.6% and Decatur at 3.5%.

Williamson County in Middle Tennessee continues to pace the state with the lowest unemployment rate, registering 2% in April.

Following closely behind Williamson was Sevier County, with unemployment at 2.1% in April, down from 2.5% in March.

Among other neighboring counties, Greene County’s unemployment rate came in at 3.1%, down from 3.5%. Hamblen and Jefferson counties were each at 2.8%, down from 2.9% and 3.1%, respectively, in March.

All 95 counties in Tennessee registered lower unemployment rates for April. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April, 2024 matched the all-time low rate of 3.1%, previously set in April, 2023.