Unemployment rate up in all 95 counties

All of Tennessee’s 95 counties reported increases in their unemployment rates for January, according to statistics released late last month from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Roane County’s rate jumped to 8.5 percent, up 1 percent over the December number.

That means 25,720 of the county’s 28,110-strong labor force was employed during the month

Roane County, which consistently has one of the state’s lowest rates, maintained that status in January, again coming in with fifth-lowest number among all counties.

Williamson and Lincoln counties reported the two lowest rates, at 6.7 and 6.8 percent, respectively.

Neighboring Knox County claimed the third-lowest rate at 7.5 percent, followed by Sullivan County at 8.4 percent.

Overall, Tennessee’s jobless rate for January was 10.2 percent, an increase of 1.1 percent. The U.S. rate, at 9.8 percent, climbed by 0.7 percent.

Nearby Scott County had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 23.2 percent. Pickett County, which lies on the Kentucky border on the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee, had the state’s second-highest rate at 18.4 percent.

Marshall County in Middle Tennessee reflected the third-highest rate at 16 percent.

Unemployment rates for surrounding counties in January were Anderson, 9.4, up 0.9 percent; Cumberland, 12.9, up 2 percent; Loudon, 8.7, up 0.4 percent; McMinn, 12.8, up 1.1 percent; Meigs, 13.4, up 1.5 percent; Monroe, 14.7, up 1 percent; Morgan, 11.6, up 1.7 percent; and Rhea, 13, up 1.2 percent.