Unemployment declined last month in metropolitan Chattanooga to 6.1 percent, the lowest rate since April.
But joblessness in most Tennessee counties rose during November, according to employment figures released Tuesday by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Unemployment fell in Marion County last month by a half percent to 6.9 percent and declined in McMinn County by a tenth of a percent to 6.9 percent. But the jobless rates in other area counties were either unchanged or higher during November.
In the six-county Chattanooga metropolitan area, the jobless rate remained lowest in the Northwest Georgia counties near metro Chattanooga with a combined 5.1 percent unemployment rate during November. But on the Tennessee side of the border, all counties had unemployment rates above the U.S. rate of 5.8 percent.
Statewide, Tennessee’s jobless rate in November was 6.8 percent, three tenths of a percent below the October level.
“The business survey of employers continues to show gains in employment consistent with the ongoing recovery, which we expect to continue into 2015,” University of Tennessee Economist Bill Fox said.
The November jobless rate was 6.4 percent in Hamilton County, up by two-tenths of a percent from October.
Statewide, the jobless rate in November increased in 63 counties, fell in 18 counties and remained the same in 14 counties.
Unemployment was the lowest in Tennessee in Lincoln County in Middle Tennessee at 4.3 percent and highest in Scott County in Upper East Tennessee at 12.5 percent.