RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TN - County unemployment rates have been released, and Rutherford County remains on the top 10 list of counties with the lowest jobless rates, but it is now closer to the bottom of the list at number 9. Both Knox County and Rutherford County have a rate of 3%, but Knox County had slightly higher unemployment figures, which placed the East Tennessee county below Rutherford at number 10 on the list.
City-by-city rankings have also been released by the state, and it appears that Smyrna holds the top spot for having the lowest jobless rate in the county. Smyrna's unemployment rate stood at 3% last month, indicating an increase of 0.1 points from November 2024 to December 2024. Looking back to December 2023, Smyrna had an unemployment rate of 2.3%, reflecting a difference of 0.7 points when comparing 2023 to 2024.
Murfreesboro saw an increase in their jobless rate last month, rising from a 2.9% unemployment number in November 2024 to 3.1% in December 2024. LaVergne also experienced a slight increase, moving up from 3% in November to 3.1% in December.
Throughout the state, unemployment numbers went down in 23 Tennessee counties between the months of November and December, while the numbers remained the same in 39 other counties. At the same time, at least 33 counties saw an increase in their jobless status between the last two months of 2024, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) announced Thursday.
According to the list of counties, all but five Tennessee counties recorded unemployment rates of less than 5% in December. Those five counties had rates that were 5% or greater but less than 10%, with the highest at 5.9%. The five counties with the states highest unemployment rate were Unicoi County at 5.9%, followed by Bledsoe, McNairy, Houston and Lake Counties all at 5.2% unemployment.
(1.) Moore County reported the lowest unemployment rate in the state last month at 2.5%, down one-tenth of a percentage point from November. (2.) Williamson County had the second-lowest unemployment rate in the state. At 2.6%, Williamson County was unchanged from the previous month. (3.) Sevier County followed with an unemployment rate of 2.7% in December, an increase of one-tenth of a percentage point from November.
TDLWD reported last week that Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.6% in December. While up slightly over the previous month, the state’s rate is still five-tenths of a percentage point below the national rate of 4.1%.
2024 was a record year as Tennessee recorded all-time low rates of 3% in May, June, and July.
Unlike the statewide rate, county rates are not adjusted to account for seasonal impacts on employment, such as weather and school breaks.
An overview of county unemployment data, including labor force estimates for local areas across the state, is available here.
