Roane, state jobless rates up in June

Roane County’s unemployment rate was up just shy of a point in June, according to statistics released late last week from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The state’s figures indicate the county’s rate for the month was 8.2 percent, an increase of 0.8 over May’s 7.4 percent.

That means 26,090 workers in the county’s 28,430 labor force were employed during June.

Though on the rise, the county rate in June 2011 was lower, at 8.8 percent, state statistics show.

The trend was no different statewide. All of Tennessee’s 95 counties recorded unemployment rate increases in June.

The state’s unemployment rate, likewise, took a 0.8 jump to 8.7 percent. That figure, however, is considerably lower than in June 2011, when the state recorded a jobless rate of 9.8 percent.

The U.S. unemployment rate also rose in June to 8.4 percent, up from 7.9  percent the previous month.

Middle Tennessee’s Williamson and Lincoln counties recorded the state’s lowest rates at 5.9 percent. Knox County was next lowest, at 6.7 percent.

Nearby Scott County had the state’s highest jobless rate at 18.5 percent.

West Tennessee’s Obion County had the second-highest rate at 14.8 percent, followed by Lauderdale County at 13.5 percent.

Unemployment rates for surrounding counties in June were Anderson, 8.6, up 0.9 percent; Cumberland, 9.5, up 0.7 percent; Knox, 6.7, up 0.7 percent; Loudon, 6.8, up 0.4 percent; McMinn, 10, up 0.7 percent; Meigs, 11.6, up 0.7 percent; Morgan, 11, up 1.1 percent; and Rhea, 11.3 up 1.2 percent.