Unicoi County unemployment remains high after Hurricane Helene

With its industrial park still shut down after being ravaged by Hurricane Helene, Unicoi County again has posted the state’s highest unemployment rate in December at 5.9%. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development says statewide rate was 3.6%. Over 250 people worked in six different businesses at the industrial park when floodwaters hit it on September 27th. Unicoi County’s unemployment rate was 4.3% in September, with 304 people in the county of just under 18,000 people unemployed. By November, the number of unemployed was up by more than 40% and has barely changed since then. Unicoi County officials and leaders of the companies affected have been working with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to gather enough financial support to get the park operational again.