Unemployment rates lower across Volunteer State

MCNAIRY COUNTY, Tenn. — New reports show that nearly all 95 Tennessee counties continue to have unemployment rates under 5 percent in October 2017. Even counties with the highest unemployment rates in West Tennessee, are all around the national average of 4.1.

“I’m tickled to death to be in that number of 4.3, because it shows that we’ve almost cut our unemployment rate in half,” said Eddie Crittendon, CEO of McNairy County Economic Development.

Reports show that McNairy County in particular had an unemployment rate of 7.2 last year.

“So it sheds a really positive light on McNairy County that we’re going in the right direction,” Crittendon said.

County representatives say, during the past 14 months, they have had four industry expansion announcements.

“That just shows the economy in the county is really on the uptick,” said Crittendon, “because people are able to start hiring more employees and things like that.”

One of them was back in August at Monogram Refrigeration.

“You start adding 210 good paying jobs with a good company like Monogram, that’s a big deal for us,” said Crittendon.

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News stopped by Monogram Refrigeration and saw how easy it was to learn how to apply for a job there, with the directions sitting right now the lobby counter.

The county’s economic development team says they also partner with industries and businesses to host job fairs. They say they are pleased to see companies expanding as well as moving into their community.

“I think that speaks very good volumes about the employees that we have here in this county,” Crittendon said, “and the quality of employers that we have in the county as well.”

McNairy County Chamber of Commerce members say they will be hosting one of those job fairs tomorrow as well as the first three Tuesdays of December. They will take place at the Latta Theater from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Representatives from Benton County say they are pleased to see their unemployment rate at 4.7 percent in this most recent report, down from last year’s 6 percent.