Unemployment in Tennessee fell last month to the lowest level since May 2008 as employers across the Volunteer State added 49,300 jobs over the past year.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said today that the jobless rate fell during March by three-tenths of a percent to 6.3 percent. A year ago, the unemployment rate was a tenth of a percentage point higher at 6.4 percent.
Despite the job gains in Tennessee, the unemployment rate in the Volunteer State last month remained eight tenths of percentage point above the U.S. jobless rate of 5.5 percent in March.
Last month, the state estimates that employment in Tennessee fell by 4,400 jobs, due primarily to cuts in food services, transportation and utilities and construction.
But over the past year, Tennessee added jobs in most of those sectors, and had bigger job gains in education, health services and professional and business services.