County Unemployment Rates Decrease Across Tennessee

The unemployment situation in three-quarters of Tennessee’s 95 counties continued to improve in July following business closures earlier in the year due to the COVID-19 health emergency. Seventy-two counties had lower unemployment in July compared to the previous month. Cumberland County’s July unemployment rate was 8.7%, down from June’s rate of 9.2%, but still 3.9% higher than the same time last year. The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Tennessee decreased for the third consecutive month in July from 9.6% to 9.5%. Nationally, unemployment also decreased in July. The preliminary, seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate is 10.2%, a 0.9 of a percentage point drop from the previous month’s rate.