Jobless rate falls to 3.7 percent in Chattanooga

FILE - In this Tuesday, July 19, 2016, file photo, a job applicant attends a job fair in Miami Lakes, Fla. The Labor Department says applications for jobless aid rose by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 243,000, up from a 44-year-low 223,000 the week before, on Thursday, March 9, 2017. The four-week average, which is less volatile, blipped up by 2,250 to 236,500. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

By Staff Report September 27, 2018 3 min read

Jobless in August

Unemployment declined across Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia in August* Catoosa, Georgia, 3.3 percent, down 0.2 percent from the previous month* Dade, Georgia, 3.3 percent, down 0.2 percent from the previous month* Walker, Georgia, 3.6 percent, down 0.4 percent from the previous month* Chattooga, Georgia, 3.7 percent, down 0.5 percent from the previous month* Hamilton, 3.7 percent, down 0.2 percent from the previous month* Bradley, 4.0 percent, down 0.2 percent from the previous month* Whitfield, Georgia, 4.0 percent, down 0.8 percent from the previous month* McMinn, 4.2 percent, down 0.3 percent from the previous month* Polk, 4.3 percent, down 0.4 percent from the previous month* Sequatchie, 4.5 percent, down 0.3 percent from the previous month* Murray, Georgia, 4.6 percent, down 1.1 percent from the previous month* Meigs, 4.7 percent, down 0.5 percent from the previous month* Marion, 5.0 percent, down 0.5 percent from the previous month* Rhea, 5.9 percent, down 0.4 percent from the previous month* Bledsoe County, 6.2 percent, down 0.7 percent from the previous monthSources: Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development and Georgia Department of Labor

Unemployment in the Chattanooga area dropped to 3.7 percent last month – the lowest rate since February and two tenths of a percent lower than the country as a whole, according to new state jobs figures released Thursday.

The decline in unemployment locally came despite a decline in jobs in August as many summer seasonal jobs ended and students returned to school. But the drop in the number of persons looking for work in the Chattanooga area was even greater, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

In the 6-county Chattanooga metro area, preliminary figures indicate the number of persons on the job dropped by 4,517 in August. But the number of persons in the labor market on the job or looking for work fell by even more, declining by 5,440 persons.

Over the past 12 months, employers in metro Chattanooga added 4,572 jobs. The pace of employment gains has slowed to only half the number being added in the peak period in 2016 and 2017 in Chattanooga.