Jobless rate up in Tennessee, down in Georgia

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Unemployment edged up a tenth of a percent across Tennessee in December to 5.6 percent as the number of persons seeking jobs grew faster than the increase in employment. In Georgia, the jobless rate fell a tenth of a percent at the end of 2015 to 5.5 percent - the lowest monthly rate in nearly seven years.

Both states recorded employment gains of around 2.2 percent in the past 12 months, according to employer surveys, outpacing the nationwide gain of 1.9 percent. But the U.S. jobless rate of 5 percent in December remained below both Tennessee and Georgia.

"As more jobs become available, more people are coming back into the labor market and that has kept the unemployment from going down even though we saw really excellent job growth in December across nearly all sectors," said William Fox, director of the Center of Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee.

·Over the past year, Tennessee's unemployment rate decreased from 6.6 percent to 5.6 percent while the national rate declined from 5.6 percent to 5.0 percent. Tennessee employers added 64,900 jobs in the past 12 months.

"We expect continued employment growth in 2016 as the economy continues to grow despite slower growth rates in China and other challenges that may arise around the globe," said Murat Arik, director of the Business and Economic Research Center at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

Last month, nonfarm employment jumped 19,400 jobs in Tennessee, but the number of persons seeking employment grew by 25,400, according to household surveys across the state.

In December, the average manufacturing worker in Tennessee was paid an hourly rate of $17.37 an hour, or 14 percent less than $20.16 hourly rate paid for factory workers nationwide.

In Georgia, the number of jobs rose by 91,100 jobs over the past year.

"The rate dropped to its lowest level in nearly seven years as our employers continued to create jobs and hire more people," Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said. "While we saw a net increase of 3,300 jobs in December, our private sector employers actually added 6,000 jobs, but cuts, primarily in government, offset some of that gain."

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.