News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Last week, the state announced historic low unemployment numbers. This week, the numbers have bounced back up a bit.
Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Economic Development Stephen Crook said that’s not unusual.
“Seasonal employment whether it be ramping up for holiday season or high school and college students getting jobs during the summer, there’s a whole lot of different factors that means your unemployment varies from month to month,” Crook said.
In the Upper Cumberland, unemployment numbers did rise this month, but all are below last year’s numbers.
“Comparing where you are at this point in this year to where you were at this point last year gives you a good picture of what your trend line might be over an extended period of time,” Crook said.
Putnam County’s unemployment rate went up from 4.1 to 5.0.
| County | June 2017 | May 2017 | June 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clay | 5.6 | 4.0 | 7.1 |
| Cumberland | 4.8 | 3.3 | 6.0 |
| DeKalb | 5.4 | 3.9 | 6.2 |
| Fentress | 5.2 | 3.7 | 7.0 |
| Jackson | 5.9 | 4.4 | 8.1 |
| Overton | 4.7 | 3.3 | 6.1 |
| Pickett | 4.5 | 3.0 | 5.7 |
| Putnam | 5.0 | 4.1 | 6.6 |
| Smith | 3.9 | 2.7 | 5.2 |
| Van Buren | 5.3 | 3.5 | 6.7 |
| Warren | 4.7 | 3.0 | 5.7 |
| White | 4.5 | 3.2 | 5.5 |
