DeKalb Jobless Rate Soars to 10.8% in January

DeKalb County’s Unemployment rate for the month of January soared to 10.8%, an increase from the revised rate for December of 9.2%, and up significantly from 5.7% in January, 2008
The DeKalb County Labor Force for January, 2009 was 9,890. A total of 8,820 were employed and 1,070 were unemployed.
Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January 2009 was released last week at 8.6 percent, 1.0 percentage point higher than the December rate of 7.6 percent. The United States unemployment rate for the month of January was 7.6 percent.
County non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for January 2009, released today, show that the rate increased in all 95 counties. All counties also recorded over-the-year unemployment rate increases.
Lincoln County and Knox County registered the state’s lowest county unemployment rate at 6.6 percent. Perry County had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 27.3 percent, up from 20.1 in December, followed by Lauderdale County at 18.6 percent, up from 15.7 percent in December.
Knox County had the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate of 6.6 percent, up 0.9 percentage point from the December rate. Davidson County was 7.0 percent, up 1.1 from the previous month. Hamilton County was at 7.4 percent, up 1.0 percentage point from the December rate, and Shelby County was 8.6 percent, up from the December rate of 7.4 percent.