Department of Labor Releases May Numbers

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development has just released the employment rates for May, and both Tennessee and White County remain steady. The state rate has remained at a constant 3.6% for the past four months. White County is currently sitting at 3.9%, the same as April, and slightly lower than May of 2025.

White County has remained largely consistent the past three months. March was only a smidge lower, at 3.8%, and has since remained at that level. This is down from both January and February, where it was in the 4% range, such as February’s 4.3%. This is also lower than the rates for the season that 2025 showed, where it remained in the 4% range for most of the early half of the year.

White County reportedly has 11,186 available Labor Force in the population, with 10,747 employed and 439 unemployed.

Surrounding counties have mostly shown a similar consistency or drops in their unemployment rate. Putnam County is at 3.1%, only a small dip below last month, though they have remained in this same range since March.

Van Buren County also rests at 3.1%, again like their recent rates. Cumberland County once again hits 3.8%, just the same as April.

The State of Tennessee is also trailing ahead of the national average, with the United States holding around a 4.3% unemployment rate, 0.7 percentage points higher than Tennessee. All these rates are calculated after seasonal adjustment.

The counties with the lowest rates in May 2026 were as follows: Williamson (2.4%); Cheatham, Dickson, and Knox (2.5%); and Sevier, Wilson, Rutherford, Sumner, Macon, and Blount, all with 2.6%.

The counties with the highest rates in May 2026 were as follows: Perry (5.3%); Hancock and Pickett (4.7%); Hardeman (4.6%); Lewis and Maury (4.5%); and Shelby and Meigs (4.3%).

Information for county unemployment rates is posted regularly on TDLWD’s website at tn.gov/workforce/general-resources, under either the Newsroom for press releases or Publications for the full information.