Perry County’s unemployment rate jumped more than a point and a half in December, reversing a recent trend in improved joblessness.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported last week that the local jobless rate for the final month of 2009 was 18 percent—an increase of 1.6 percent from November’s figure of 16.4.
The change placed Perry as fifth on the state’s list of top ten counties with highest unemployment rates.
Lauderdale County, at 18.9 percent, had the worst rate, followed by: Marshall, 18.9; Scott, 18.8; Haywood, 18.5; Hancock, 17.9; Henderson, 17.8; Pickett, 17.4; Carroll, 17.4; and Lewis, 16.8.
Statewide, seventy-six of ninety-five counties had jobless rates in excess of 10 percent, with ninety-one counties experiencing increases. Lincoln County—7.1 percent—had the lowest unemployment rate in December.
The state numbered Perry County’s labor force at 2,950, with 530 unable to find work.
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