Knox County's unemployment rate is still high by historical standards, but it continues to look good compared to the rest of the state. Acorrding to the May job force report released today by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the county's rate last month dropped to 7.4 percent from 7.7 percent in April. That is better than the overall state rate of 9.7 percent, which actually rose from the April rate of 9.6. It is also the lowest rate among Tennessee's major metro areas: Hamilton County (Chattanooga) reported a rate of 8.2 percent, Davidson County (Nashville) reported 8.6 percent, and Shelby County (Memphis) was at 10 percent.
Knox County also has the third-lowest rate of any county in the state, behind Lincoln County (6.1 percent) and Williamson County (6.6 percent).
The bad news is that even Knox County's relatively moderate rate amounts to 17,770 unemployed people here, according to the state. And we're at the exact same rate that we were in May 2010, suggesting little momentum for any economic recovery.
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