Jobless in January
Tennessee ' Bradley County, 4.2 percent, down 0.4 percent in December ' Hamilton County, 4.6 percent, down 0.4 percent from December ' Franklin County, 4.6 percent, down 0.3 percent in December ' Coffee County, 4.7 percent, down 0.5 percent in December ' McMinn County, 5.5 percent, down 0.6 percent in December ' Sequatchie County, 5.5 percent, down 0.8 percent in December ' Polk County, 5.9 percent, down 0.5 percent in December ' Meigs County, 6.5 percent, down 0.7 percent in December ' Marion County, 6.6 percent, down 0.1 percent in December ' Grundy County, 6.7 percent, down 0.5 percent in December ' Rhea County, 7.2 percent, down 0.6 percent in December ' Van Buren County, 7.2 percent, down 0.6 percent in December ' Bledsoe County, 7.3 percent, down 0.3 percent from December Georgia ' Catoosa County, 5.1 percent, up 0.4 percent from December ' Dade County, 5.1 percent, up 0.5 percent from December ' Walker County, 5.8 percent, up 0.3 percent from December ' Chattooga County, 5.9 percent, down 0.3 percent fro December ' Whitfield County, 7.1 percent, up 1.4 percent from December Sources: Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Georgia Department of Labor
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said unemployment in the six-county Chattanooga area declined in January by two tenths of a percent to 4.9 percent - the lowest monthly rate in metro Chattanooga since before the Great Recession.
The nonseasonally adjusted jobless rate typically increases in January following the seasonal holiday hiring in December at retail stores and warehouses like Amazon, where Christmas buying and shipments peak late in the year. But newly revised Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed employment in Chattanooga was still up by more than 500 jobs in January from December and was up by more than 9,300 jobs from a year ago.
In January 2015, Chattanooga's metro jobless rate was 6.6 percent.
Chattanooga's economy will get a boost this year from the planned expansion of the Volks- wagen assembly plant, with the addition of a new sports utility vehicle to its production lines. The University of Tennessee projects the 2,000-job expansion by VW will spur another 7,800 jobs at automotive suppliers and other businesses benefiting from the $900 million VW expansion.
"We saw some extraordinary growth in January in nearly every industry in Tennessee," said Bill Fox, director of the Center for Business and Economic Growth at the University of Tennessee. "We continue to be very upbeat about the economy in this region for the year head, especially in places like Chattanooga."
At the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga last week, the college had its biggest student recruitment fair for new teachers of any year since 2008.
"We're seeing more and more employers coming to campus and recruiting students this year," said Donna Cooper, director of career and student employment at UTC. "The economy seems to be doing better and that should help more of our students and graduates find work."
The nonseasonally adjusted jobless rate in metropolitan Cleveland, Tenn., was even lower than Chattanooga in January at only 4.5 percent, down by four tenths of a percentage point in January. Bradley County boasted the lowest jobless rate among area counties at 4.2 percent in January.
Among Tennessee's major metropolitan counties, unemployment was lowest last month in Davidson County at 3.6 percent and highest in Shelby County at 5.5 percent.
Unemployment remained much higher in January to the south in metropolitan Dalton, Ga., where the jobless rate increased by 1.3 percent to 7.8 percent.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.