Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Buzz Trexler

Star Correspondent

Carter County’s unemployment rate for November came in slightly below the national rate, but above the statewide average, according to state and federal reports.

According to statistics from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, joblessness in Carter County increased slightly in November to 4.1 percent, up from 4 percent in October. The total labor force was reported at 24,392 people, with 1,003 people unemployed. Carter County’s unemployment rate in November 2023 was 3.4 percent.

Carter is one of eight counties that have been given an extension for Disaster Unemployment Assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency due to the impact of Tropical Storm Helene. The assistance is available for those whose employment or self-employment was impacted by severe rainfall and flash flooding beginning on Sept. 26 in Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi, and Washington counties. The disaster period started on Sept. 29 and ends on April 5, 2025. Applications must be submitted by Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.

Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in November. That rate was up 0.2 percent over the previous month but is still 0.7 percent below the national rate of 4.2 percent.

Unlike the statewide rate, county rates are not adjusted to account for seasonal impacts on employment.

The report showed Unicoi County’s unemployment rate rose from 5.8 percent in October to 6 percent in November, the state’s highest that month. The rate in November 2023 was 4 percent.

Johnson County’s November unemployment rate was 3.8 percent, down from 3.9 percent in October, but up markedly from 2.9 percent the previous November.

Washington County’s unemployment rate in November was 3.5 percent, up from 3.4 percent in October, and 3.2 percent a year ago.

The state said 91 of Tennessee’s 95 counties reported unemployment rates of less than 5 percent for November, with unemployment rates decreasing in 17 counties.

Moore and Williamson counties recorded the state’s lowest unemployment rates for November at 2.6 percent. Those counties also reported rates of 2.6 percent in October.

Sevier County had the state’s next-lowest unemployment rate for the month. At 2.7 percent, the rate was 0.1 percent higher than in October.

Unemployment rates remained the same in 30 counties, while rates in 48 counties increased from October to November.

Tennessee employers have added 56,000 nonfarm since November 2023, according to data from the state labor department. The largest increase was in the health care and social assistance sector, followed by the professional, scientific, and technical services sector. The retail trade sector accounted for the next-largest increases.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate for November stood at 4.2 percent, compared to 3.7 percent in November 2023. South Dakota had the lowest jobless rate in November, 1.9 percent, Nevada had the highest unemployment rate, at 5.7 percent, followed by Washington, D.C., 5.6 percent. In total, 26 states had unemployment rates lower than the national rate, three states and Washington, D.C., had higher rates, and 21 states had rates that were not much different from that of the nation.