CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A new report is shedding light on unemployment rates in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) says that rate did not go above 5 percent as of May.

The average unemployment rate for the state was 3.5 percent, according to the TDLWD.

Friday we spoke with employment experts about what demographics are most affected by these rates and why.

“Those over 40 are coming in and not being able to find work. And so that’s a huge issue that we’re having.”

The American Job Center says it’s a trend they’ve seen more and more — workers older than 40 walking through their doors, only to find out they’re not qualified for the jobs they’re hoping to land.

At Hire Quest, a Chattanooga temp agency, they’re seeing a steady increase in foot traffic — more and more unemployed people coming in, hoping to get back into the workforce any way they can.

“Especially within the last six to eight months, we’ve seen quite a few people come in, whether it’s from Volkswagen or different places like that, looking for an extra job or have been laid off.”

Allen Ramey with Hire Quest says they put a hiring now sign up so that people know that they could find a job there.

“The most that we see are probably somewhere in the late 20s to mid to late 40s, and a lot of people that come through our door are justice involved, and so some places won’t hire them because of their history.”

A graph from TDLWD shows that the current unemployment rates for Chattanooga is 3.1 percent:

Howard Wall, UTC Economist, says this is a trend he is noticing as well.

“The percentage of people who are unemployed, is ticking up tiny bits month by month, but overall it’s still really historically low.”

Wall explained how the unemployment rate locally is rising because jobs aren’t being generated as quickly as they once were, which then impacts the tax revenue for the city.

“When you see like this uptick in unemployment, it’s usually like the first people are kind of at the edges of the labor market. So it’d be temp workers.”

In Meigs County, TDLWD reports their unemployment rate is 4.6 percent.

Read the full TDLWD report below: