Many Tennessee counties experienced changes in their unemployment rates during October 2020, according to newly released data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).

Unemployment in 93 of Tennessee’s 95 counties increased in October. Davidson and Sevier counties saw their rates decrease during the month.

Bedford County

The number of unemployed workers in Bedford County rose in October. The rate was up 1.2 percent in October to 6.9 percent. Of the county’s 20,993 workers, 1,449 were unemployed.

During October, two counties in the state had unemployment rates below 5%, 90 counties had rates of 5% or greater, and three counties recorded rates of 10% or higher.

Williamson County had the state’s lowest unemployment in October with a rate of 4.6%, which is up 0.8 of a percentage point from its revised September rate of 3.8%.

Counties with highest unemployment

Shelby County recorded October’s highest jobless rate in Tennessee. At 11%, the county’s unemployment increased by 0.7 of a percentage point when compared to the previous month’s revised rate of 10.3%. In Memphis, there are 41,000 workers listed as unemployed.

Lake County’s unemployment rate was 10.4 percent in October. The final county with double-digit unemployment was Lauderdale at 10.1 percent.

Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate increased during October. The preliminary, seasonally adjusted, statewide unemployment rate for October 2020 is 7.4%, an increase of 0.9 of a percentage point from September’s revised rate of 6.5%.

Nationally, unemployment decreased from September’s revised rate of 7.9% to 6.9% in October. The U.S. rate is 3.3 percentage points higher than it was in October 2019.

Tennessee employers are ready to help the state’s economy rebound by hiring individuals to meet their business needs. Jobs4TN.gov, Tennessee’s workforce development website, currently has over 240,000 open positions for workers of varying skill levels.

Jobs4TN.gov also offers online assistance with writing a resume that will catch the attention of employers, advice on how to engage and impress during job interviews, and details about potential job training opportunities.

There are more than 80 American Job Centers across Tennessee that are open for business and offering job seekers one-on-one personalized assistance. Career specialists are ready to work with individuals to devise a reemployment plan that will help them rejoin the state’s workforce.

All the assistance is free to anyone who needs help finding a new job or career path.