Latest Unemployment Numbers For The Area

Kind of a mixed bag in the unemployment numbers for the week ending July 17th. According to the department of labor, Cocke County had 75 new claims…with 211 continued claims. The unemployment rate in Cocke County is right around the 6% mark. Greene County had 127 new claims, Hamblen County 122…Jefferson County 84 new claims with 258 continued claims. Sevier county has the lowest unemployment rate in the area and the 5th lowest in the state. Sevier county did have 154 new claims last week, but the unemployment rate in the county sits at 4.4% good for the lowest in all of east Tennessee. There were 19 counties with unemployment rates of less than 5%…led by Williamson County south of Nashville with 3.4% unemployment. 75 counties in the state had rates like Cocke county of more than 5%. The county with the highest unemployment rate is Perry County about 80 miles west of Nashville…unemployment rate for Perry County is 13%.