Chattanooga area employers added jobs over the past year at more than twice the rate of the U.S. as a whole, creating a net new 9,287 jobs in the 12 months ended in January, according to new state figures.
But pay raises for most Tennessee workers didn’t improve much in the past year and the non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate still moved higher in January from the record lows reached at the end of 2017.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Thursday that unemployment in metropolitan Chattanooga rose in January by 0.6 percentage points to 3.9 percent – the highest monthly rate since last March. Chattanooga’s unemployment rate in January remained below the U.S. rate but higher than the statewide jobless level.
Jobless in January
The non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose in most Southeast Tennessee counties in January› Hamilton County, 3.6 percent, up 0.6 percent from the previous month› Coffee County, 3.6 percent, up 0.6 percent from the previous month› Bradley County, 3.7 percent, up 0.9 percent from the previous month› Franklin County, 3.6 percent, up 0.5 percent from the previous month› McMinn County, 4.6 percent, up 0.8 percent from the previous month› Sequatchie County, 4.8 percent, up 0.4 percent from the previous month› Polk County, 4.9 percent, up 1.0 percent from the previous month› Grundy County, 5.0 percent, up 0.8 percent from the previous month› Meigs County, 5.1 percent, up 0.9 percent from the previous month› Marion County, 5.2 percent, up 1.0 percent from the previous month› Rhea County, 6.8 percent, up 1.2 percent from the previous monthSource: Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Tennessee Labor Commissioner Burns Phillips said the rise in unemployment reflected primarily seasonal employment changes following the Christmas holidays when the retail and other jobs increase to yearly highs.