Collierville’s jobless rate is now the second lowest in Tennessee.
At 3.1 percent, the town reported 790 unemployed residents in February, according to the state’s Department of Labor.
At 2.9 percent, only Germantown and Franklin had lower jobless rates. The rate has dropped since January but remains slightly up from a year ago.
The town has a reported workforce of 25,876, the twelfth largest in the state among municipalities with a population of 25,000 or more.
Nashville’s labor force is 400,888, making it the largest in Tennessee. While rates are down more than 1 percentage point in Memphis, the city still has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 8.1 percent.
Bartlett’s rate is 3.6 percent, with 1,113 residents claiming unemployment in February.
Shelby County’s rate is down to 6.8 percent.
• More town news: The town’s Planning Commission has been tasked with protecting more trees in Collierville.
The Commission will discuss an ordinance on Tuesday to “help the community be more effective at preserving and expanding existing tree canopy cover while also recognizing regulatory constraints in state law and from a 20-year-old lawsuit concerning the town’s tree ordinance.”
In 2013, the town had nearly 34 percent coverage by the existing tree canopy. In the last 30 years of development, the town’s tree planting requirements for single family lots have enforced new tree canopy coverage.
“Collierville uses the site plan, grading permit and subdivision processes to incrementally ensure that the town’s exiting tree canopy is preserved.” When these aspects can’t be preserved, the town has “required new tree plantings to restore a portion of the preexisting tree canopy.
