February 2016 County Unemployment Rates

NASHVILLE – County unemployment rates for February 2016, released today, show the rates decreased in 93 counties, increased in one, and remained the same in one county. Specific county information for February is available on the Internet:

For the month of February, Davidson County had the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate at 3.3 percent, down from January’s rate of 3.5 percent. Knox County was 3.6 percent in February, down from 3.9 the previous month. The Hamilton County rate was 4.2 percent, down from 4.6 in January. Shelby County was 4.9 percent, down from 5.4 percent the previous month.

Tennessee’s preliminary unemployment rate for February was 4.9 percent, down five tenths of a percentage point from the previous month’s revised rate. The U.S. preliminary rate for February was also 4.9 percent, unchanged from the previous month. 

The state and national unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted while the county unemployment rates are not. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that eliminates the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events from economic time series.

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