Catherwood LibraryILR School

Unemployment was up in Memphis last month, as well as in the entire state of Texas. The Memphis rate increased from 9.8% in November to 10.3% in December, totaling an increase of almost three full percentage points from December 2008. Interestingly, the state's other three major metropolitan areas (Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville) all had unemployment rates that remained quite a bit below that of Memphis in December - at 9.4, 9.1, and 8.7, respectively. Tennessee as a whole also generally increased, with statewide employment moving from 10.0 to 10.3% in December. Of the ninety-five total counties in Tennessee, 91 of them had unemployment rate's that increased in the last month of 2009. Three counties remained the same, and only a single Tennessee county posted jobs gains in 2009.