Knox County’s labor market had good marks in September although there’s little doubt that market disruptions and labor shortages are still a factor.
The unemployment rate was down to 5.5 percent, the lowest it’s been since March 2020.
On paper, Knox is about where they were before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with a little less than 21,000 in the labor force, a figure on par with Feb. 2020.
That also is about 200 more than the month previous.
The annual trailing average of unemployment has been trending downwards since the spring.
There are some signs that it might still have trouble in the coming months.
Knox unemployment is below the trailing 12-month and 24-month average which tends to happen when the unemployment rate will go up in the coming months.
The number of people employed in Knox County has fallen about 20 percent over the last 15 years.
