By Bill Grubb

ROGERSVILLE - Hawkins County's unemployment rate took another jump from April to May, rising to 13.1 percent.
    According to figures released Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, 3,600 workers are now unemployed in the county out of the a 27,500 person work force.
    The adjusted April 2009 unemployment rate was 11.9 percent, according to state figures.
    The May 2009 figure is nearly double the May 2008 unemployment rate, which stood at 6.8 percent.
    Tennessee's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2009 was released last week at 10.7 percent, 0.8 percentage point higher than the April rate of 9.9 percent.  The United States' unemployment rate for the month of May was 9.4 percent.
    County non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for May 2009 show that the rate increased in 88 counties, decreased in 6 counties and remained the same in one county.
    Lincoln County registered the state's lowest county unemployment rate at 6.5 percent, up from 6.3 in April.  Perry County had the state's highest unemployment rate at 24.6 percent, up from 24.0 in April, followed by Lauderdale County at 19.2 percent, up from 18.2 percent in April.
    Figures released by the state show increases in all the neighboring counties.
    Grainger County posted a 13.6 percent unemployment rate, a 0.1 percentage point increase, with 1,420 workers unemployed.
    Greene County saw an increase to 15.5, up from 15.3 percent, with 4,810 unemployed workers.
    Hamblen County saw the unemployment rate move up to 12.7 percent, representing 3,900 jobless workers.
    Hancock County's unemployment rate move upward to 13.7 percent, with 360 individuals out of work.
    Sullivan County posted the lowest unemployment rate, 9.1 percent, but with the largest workforce also had the largest number of unemployed workers