Unemployment in metropolitan Chattanooga fell last month to its lowest level in more than 17 years as Chattanooga area employers added nearly 12,000 jobs in the six-county area during the past 12 months.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Thursday the jobless rate in the Chattanooga area fell by seven-tenths of a percent in September to 3.2 percent - the lowest monthly rate since May 2001.
In metro Cleveland, unemployment fell even lower to a mere 2.8 percent last month - the lowest rate since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has kept such records in 1990. In the Cleveland area, employers added an estimated 3,125 jobs over the past year.
"Tennessee as a whole - and Southeast Tennessee especially - continues to show strong economic growth and we see no immediate signs of any slowdown," said Dr. Bill Fox, director of economic forecasting at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Unemployment in Hamilton County last month fell by seventenths of a percent to 2.9 percent.
In metro Chattanooga, employment grew at a healthy 4.8 percent in the past year, more than double the U.S. average growth pace. In metro Cleveland, employment grew by an even stronger 5.7 percent.
Jobless in September
Unemployment declined in all 95 counties and throughout Northwest Georgia last month.Tennessee* Bradley, 2.8 percent, down 0.7 percent* Coffee, 2.8 percent, down 0.7 percent* Hamilton, 2.9 percent, down 0.7 percent* Franklin, 2.9 percent, down 0.8 percent* Polk, 3.3 percent, down 0.9 percent* McMinn, 3.4 percent, down 0.7 percent* Van Buren, 3.4 percent, down 0.9 percent* Marion, 3.8 percent, down 0.8 percent* Grundy, 3.9 percent, down 0.8 percent* Meigs, 3.9 percent, down 1.0 percent* Sequatchie, 4.0 percent, down 1.0 percent* Bledsoe, 4.4 percent, down 0.9 percent* Rhea, 4.9 percent, down 1.1 percentGeorgia* Catoosa, 3.7 percent, down 0.4 percent* Dade, 3.9 percent, down 0.4 percent* Walker, 4 percent, down 0.6 percent* Chattooga, 4.2 percent, down 0.7 percent* Whitfield, 4.8 percent, down 0.3 percentSources: Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Georgia Department of Labor
To the south in metropolitan Dalton, Ga., the Carpet Capital increased employment by nearly 2.9 percent in the past 12 months and reported its lowest jobless rate in a decade last month.
Dalton's jobless rate in September fell by two tenths of a percent to 5.0 percent - the lowest rate since September 2007, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.
Dalton's non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was still well above the U.S. rate of 4.1 percent or Georgia's statewide rate of 4.2 percent. But from its jobless peak of 13.6 percent seven years ago in the midst of the Great Recession, Dalton has added more than 3,700 jobs and cut the unemployment rate by nearly two thirds.
"The combination of a falling unemployment rate and an increase in the number of employed residents shows a city on the rise," Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said.
Although employment in Dalton rose to the highest number in a decade, employment in the Dalton area still remains 7.1 percent below the peak employment level of 65,470 reached in June 2007.
Unemployment in the Chattanooga region was lowest in Bradley and Coffee counties at 2.8 percent and highest in Rhea County at 4.9 percent.
Rhea County continued to have the state's highest jobless rate among all 95 counties, but unemployment in Rhea County still fell with the start of school and the fall season in September by 1.1 percent to keep all counties in Tennessee with unemployment below 5 percent for the first time ever.
"With every county seeing unemployment rates below 5 percent and with a record statewide unemployment rate (of 3 percent), Tennessee's fiscal strength is clear and the investment in our workforce is paying off," Gov. Bill Haslam said in announcing the jobless figures.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.