Local jobless rate still high

Memphis saw the largest increase among large cities in Tennessee, growing to 16.9%.

County-level July unemployment rates released by the Tennessee department of labor Thursday show that 75% of Tennessee counties are on the mend, albeit slowly.

Unemployment rates in the majority of Tennessee’s counties skyrocketed in April, with many counties’ rates surpassing unemployment rates during the 2008 financial crash.

But unemployment rate decreases from June to July in 72 of the state’s 95 counties offer small signs of progress toward economic recovery.

Tennessee’s overall unemployment rate came in at an estimated 9.5% in July, slightly lower than June’s revised rate of 9.6%. From June to July, the unemployment rate increased in 19 counties and remained the same in four counties.

Despite more than 75% of Tennessee’s counties seeing a decrease in unemployment during this time period, no county has yet to return to the state’s pre-pandemic average of 3.5%. Pickett County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate in July at 6.3%. Shelby County had the highest at 14.4%. Memphis saw the largest increase in unemployment rate of Tennessee cities with populations of 25,000 or more in July, growing by 1.6 percentage points to 16.9%.

Other large Tennessee cities fared better: Nashville saw a 0.1 percentage point increase to 12.1%, and Knoxville maintained its 9.4% rate from last month, as did Chattanooga (11.1%) and Clarksville (11.2%). • Pickett County: 6.3%

• Williamson County and Moore County: 6.4%

• Overton County: 6.6%

• Crockett County: 6.8%

• Johnson County and Hickman County: 6.9%

Counties with the largest drop in unemployment rate from June

• Marshall County: 9.9% in July, down 2.7 percentage points from June

• Warren County: 9.9% in July, down 2.5 percentage points from June

• Grundy County: 10.7% in July, down 2.2 percentage points from June

• Franklin County: 8.1% in July, down 2 percentage points from June

• Sevier County: 10.5% in July, down 1.9 percentage points from June

Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephenson@tennessean.com or at (731) 694-7261. Follow Cassandra on Twitter at @Cstephenson731.

THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL The Hernando de Soto Bridge and the Bass Pro pyramid are seen over a field of sunflowers July 20 near the Big River Crossing in West Memphis, Ark.