Collierville tied two other Tennessee municipalities for the fifth lowest jobless rate in the state during November.
At 2.4 percent, the town’s unemployment rate was identical to Maryville and Smyrna last month.
Franklin (1.9 percent), Brentwood (2.1 percent), Mount Juliet (2.2 percent) and Hendersonville (2.3 percent) were the only municipalities with lower rates. Among other Shelby County communities with a population of at least 25,000, Bartlett and Germantown shared a rate of 2.7 percent.
Memphis’ rate of 5.1 percent was the second highest in the state behind Columbia (6 percent). Collierville’s rate was down two tenths of a percentage point from October. The town’s labor force (26,553) is now the 13th highest in the state.
Nashville (406,839) and Memphis (299,089) have the largest labor forces in Tennessee.
Shelby County’s jobless rate was 4.4 percent last month, keeping it behind Cocke (4.7 percent), Lake (4.5 percent), Lewis (4.7 percent), Maury (4.7 percent) and Scott (4.5 percent) counties. The average weekly earnings for Tennessee residents was $957.47 last month, behind Florida, South Carolina and Kentucky.
The average number of hours worked by employees was 43.8.
Total “nonfarm” employment increased by 4,900 jobs from October to November.
The largest increases were in leisure and hospitality, trade, transportation and utilities and manufacturing, according to Chris Cannon, assistant director of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Communications Division.
