Most of Tennessee’s 95 counties started 2021 with lower unemployment numbers, according to data released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Seventy-eight counties began the new year with a decrease in unemployment. The jobless rate remained the same in seven counties and increased in ten counties.

Rates in 24 counties came in under 5% for the month. The remaining counties, 71 out of the 95, have rates higher than 5%, but less than 10%.

Lewis County decreased from 5.7 percent to 5.1 percent. Hickman, Wayne, Perry and Lawrence also showed a slight decrease: Hickman, 4.2 percent from 4.7 percent; Wayne, 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent; Perry, 7.7 percent from 8.3 percent, and Lawrence, 5.3 percent from 5.4 percent. Maury County recorded a slim increase of 5.6 percent from 5.3 percent.

Williamson County recorded the state’s lowest unemployment rate. The new rate of 3.2% is down 0.6 of a percentage point from the December 2020 statistic. Moore County followed Williamson with a rate of 3.8%, down 0.3 of a percentage point from December. Cheatham County had the third-lowest rate at 3.9%, a decrease from 4.4%.

Cocke County had Tennessee’s highest unemployment in January. It increased by 2 percentage points in January to 8.5%. Lake County's rate was the second-highest at 8.4 percent, which represents a 0.8 of a percentage point drop from December’s rate of 9.2%. Hardeman County had the third-highest rate, but at 7.8%, the county saw unemployment drop by 0.1 of a percentage point.

Statewide, unemployment was down in January. Tennessee started 2021 with a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.1%, down 0.5 of a percentage point from December.

The national unemployment rate for January is 6.3%, down 0.4 of a percentage point.