Re-opening the state is causing a marked increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases but it is causing an important decrease in one other area … unemployment. According to the latest numbers by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD), the unemployment rate in all 95 Tennessee counties went down during the month of May.

Moore County’s unemployment rate went down to 9.4 percent – down from 12.2 percent the previous month. Franklin County experienced the greatest regional change – down 14.4 percent from 21 percent the previous month. In other surrounding counties, Coffee County is down 5.6 percent from 19.8 percent to 14.2 percent. Bedford County reported 13.9 percent – down 4.7 from 18.6 the previous month. Lincoln County reported an 11.8 percent unemployment rate – down 4.4 percent from the previous month.

This follows a sizeable state wide unemployment rate across Tennessee as business shuttered temporarily as a COVID-19 precaution.

Even with marked improvement, 42 counties had unemployment rates greater than 5 percent, but less than 10 percent. Fifty-three counties, more than half of the counties in the state, had rates greater than 10 percent, but less than 20 percent.

Weakley County had Tennessee’s lowest unemployment rate in May. The county’s new rate of 7 percent is 2.5 percentage points lower than it was in April.

Fentress County had the second-lowest figure in May at 7.1 percent, down from 9.9 percent the month before. Williamson County’s unemployment rate was the third-lowest statewide. At 7.4 percent, the rate is down 3.1 percentage points from the county’s all-time high of 10.5 percent recorded in April.

Sevier County continued to have the highest rate of unemployment in Tennessee. Still, the county’s new rate of 18.5 percent is a staggering drop of 10.6 percentage points from April’s record high of 29.1 percent.

At 17.6 percent, Warren County recorded the second-highest unemployment rate in May, down 7.5 percentage points from April’s rate. Marshall County had the third-highest rate for the month with a rate of 17.5 percent, a decrease of 6.6 percentage points from the previous month’s rate.

The statewide unemployment statistic from May also decreased significantly. The new preliminary rate of 11.3 percent is down from the revised April rate of 15.5 percent. Nationwide, unemployment decreased to 13.3 percent in May, down from the 14.7 percent rate recorded the month before. Unlike the statewide rate, county unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. To see all county rates, click here. •

{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned and operated newspaper in Moore County … covering Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, the Lynchburg Musict Fest, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}