Jobless rate falls in June

Friday, July 16, 2010

Tennessee's unemployment rate in June was 10.1 percent, down from 10.4 percent in May, the state Department of Labor & Workforce Development reported Thursday.

The national unemployment rate for June was 9.5 percent, down from the May rate of 9.7 percent. The state's June 2009 rate was 10.9 percent.

"Modest gains in areas like construction and leisure/hospitality were offset by job losses in education and census workers," said state Labor Commissioner James Neeley.

Credit card defaults dip

Consumers are getting a handle on their credit card payments, data on defaults and late payments shows.

Five of the top six U.S. credit card issuers on Thursday reported declines in June charge-off rates, the unpaid balances they gave up on collecting.

Only Citibank, the nation's second largest issuer with roughly 90 million cards in circulation, said writedowns and late payments increased last month. Citi's charge-off rate rose to 11.46 percent of balances, up from 11.16 percent in May.

The biggest improvement was reported by Chase, which has about 120 million cards in circulation, making it the top issuer in the U.S.