Jobless rate in Chattanooga region drops in half from April peak

After rising to a record high in April when the coronavirus pandemic shutdown much of the economy, unemployment in the Chattanooga region has fallen in half over the next four months as the economy has opened back up and students have returned to school.

But the number of Chattanoogans on the job last month was still down by more than 10,000 persons from March before the coronavirus began to sicken the economy, according to new jobs figures released Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Unemployment in metropolitan Chattanooga fell to 6.7% in August, down from 8.1% in July and half the record-high 13.3% reached in April when the region shed more than 35,000 jobs in a single month. Employers in the 6-county region have restored more than two thirds of the jobs lost since the coronavirus pandemic shutdown restaurants, stores, bars and many other businesses earlier this spring.

Chattanooga's unemployment rate also remained well below the comparable national average jobless rate of 8.5% last month.

Similarly, the jobless rate in the neighboring metro area of Cleveland, Tennessee, which includes Bradley and Polk counties, fell to 7.1% in August, down from 8.7% in July.

In the carpet capital of Dalton, Georgia south of Chattanooga, the jobless rate dropped to 5.2% last month, down from 8.7% in July and only about one fourth of the record high 19.8% jobless rate Dalton had in April.

"We continue to see improvement in the job market and I expect that will continue, although it will take some time to regain all of the jobs we have lost," said Dr. Jeffrey Humphreys, director of the Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.

Even though unemployment is up from the start of 2020, some employers say they can't find enough workers to fill their vacancies.

"Most everybody is back to work and there are plenty of jobs to be had right now if people want to work," said Mark Campbell, owner of the Manpower franchise in Chattanooga which supplies numerous light manufacturers with workers. "I have 60 job openings available right now I could use people to fill. I think a lot of people got used to getting the extra jobless benefits."

To soften the economic hit to the economy from the COVID-19 shutdowns, the federal government added an extra $600 in weekly benefits to the state unemployment programs through July and then provided another $300 a week supplement during much of August.

But those funds have now run out and unemployed persons are getting smaller jobless benefit checks. After 26 weeks of being unemployed, those benefits could go away altogether unless Congress agrees to provide more money or allows for extended benefits.

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development estimates there were 288,420 unemployed persons last month and last week another 11,313 persons who were recently laid off filed initial claims for unemployment.

Nationwide, the Labor Department said the number of people applying for unemployment rose slightly last week to 870,000, a historically high figure that shows the outbreak is still forcing many companies to cut jobs. The overall number of people collecting jobless aid in the U.S. fell slightly to 12.6 million, however.

Even with the elevated number of jobless claims, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development on Thursday listed a total of 224,537 job openings.

Gordon Davenport, president of the Burger King franchisee known as Hometown Folks, said his company is c0ntinually looking to hire more workers to staff its 23 restaurants.

"We are aggressively hiring at all levels at all our locations," Davenport said. "We believe that's true for almost all retailers, and many other businesses."

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.