Unemployment fell in Tennessee during December by three tenths of a percent to 7.8 percent - the state's lowest rate since October 2008, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development said today.
But Tennessee's jobless rate at the end of 2013 was still well above the U.S. unemployment rate of 6.7 percent last month. Additionally, the seasonally adjusted employment total for Tennessee in December was down by 900 jobs from November and the monthly jobless rate fell only because there was an even bigger drop in the number of people in the workforce during December.
Over the past year, however, nonfarm employment in Tennessee increased by 31,400 jobs with the largest increases in leisure/hospitality, retail trade, and durable goods manufacturing.