Tenn. county working to build on job growth started by boost from federal stimulus money

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Perry County officials are looking for ways to make job gains more permanent after short-term federal stimulus money helped cut unemployment in the rural Tennessee county from the nation's highest rate in May to 16.4 percent in November.

In May, Gov. Phil Bredesen announced a plan to bring 300 government and private sector jobs to Perry County by using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and other federal funds through September 2010...