Interstate 75 motorists eager to take a dinner break at Wendy's restaurant on Bonny Oaks this week had to go elsewhere due to staffing shortages at the popular fast-food eatery. A sign at the drive-through promises a "temporary" closing while staff is trained.
A few miles to the south, the Hardee's restaurant on East Brainerd Road said it was offering only drive-through service and more limited temporary hours "due to labor shortages."
The cutbacks are among many at Tennessee restaurants and other businesses this summer amid the ongoing labor shortage coming out of the pandemic. Despite more people joining the labor force and early signs of some slowing in parts of the economy, employers are still struggling to fill many jobs.
"The shortage of workers is our No. 1 challenge in the tourism industry right now, particularly in restaurants and hotels," Sara Beth Urban, president and CEO of the Tennessee Hospitality Association, said in a telephone interview Thursday. "We're coming out of the pandemic, and people are ready to go out and eat at restaurants, but we're not seeing enough people going to work to staff all of the available jobs. As a result, we're seeing a lot of restaurants have to limit hours, seating or sometimes any in-dining at all. It's a real challenge right now."
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Jobless in June
The nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose across the Chattanooga region in June after local schools were out of the summer, cutting education jobs and swelling the number of persons looking for work. Jobless rates were lowest in Northwest Georgia and highest in rural counties north of Chattanooga.* Catoosa, Georgia, 2.7%, up from 2.3% in May* Dade, Georgia, 2.7%, up from 2.2% in May* Walker, Georgia, 2.9%, up from 2.5% in May* Whitfield, Georiga, 3.6%, unchanged from May* Chattooga, Georgia, 4%, up from 3.4% in May* Hamilton, 4.2%, up from 3.3% in May* Coffee, 4.2%, up from 3.4% in May* Franklin, 4.3%, up from 3.4% in May* Polk, 4.3%, up from 3.6% in May* Bradley, 4.4%, up from 3.4% in May* Marion, 4.7%, up from 3.7% in May* McMinn, 4.8%, up from 3.8% in May* Sequatchie, 4.9%, up from 3.8% in May* Cumberland, 5.2%, up from 4% in May* Rhea, 5.3%, up from 4% in May* Grundy, 5.9%, up from 4.6% in May* Van Buren, 5.9%, up from 4.2% in May* Bledsoe, 6.7%, up from 5.1% in MaySources: Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development and Georgia Department of Labor
New local unemployment figures released Thursday show that the nonseasonally adjusted jobless rate rose in most counties in the Chattanooga region, which is typical for June after school is out of the summer. During summertime, more students seek jobs and some temporary education jobs are lost during June and July.
In the six-county Chattanooga metropolitan area, unemployment in June rose to 3.8%, matching the comparable U.S. nonseasonally adjusted rate for last month. The jobless rate for metro Chattanooga was the highest since last July, but employers in metro Chattanooga still added a net 3,467 jobs over the past year, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
School employees on their yearly summer break were one of the factors that impacted the June 2022 county unemployment rates, according to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
"The latest statistics showed, as they typically do in June, jobless numbers increased in each of the state's 95 counties," Tennessee Labor Commissioner Jeff McCord said.
Seasonally adjusted, Tennessee's jobless rate in June was unchanged at 3.3%, remaining below the U.S. rate of 3.6% last month. The state's career centers on Thursday listed 294,891 open jobs, or more than twice the 145,485 people counted as unemployed last month in Tennessee. Although job listings have declined from their peak earlier this year, employers like Volkswagen are offering $3,000 signing bonuses to help lure more workers to fill the 1,000 additional jobs the carmaker is adding at its Chattanooga assembly plant.
Staff Photo by Dave Flessner / The Wendy's restaurant on Bonny Oaks Drive, shown Wednesday, was temporarily closed this week due to labor shortages. The restaurant promises to reopen once it trains its staff. Restaurants across Tennessee are struggling to fill available jobs in this summer, according to the Tennessee Hospitality Association."The labor market remains strong in Tennessee, although there is likely to be some slow down as higher interest rates hit the economy," Donald Bruce, director of the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, said in a telephone interview last week.
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Across Tennessee, 68 counties had unemployment rates that were less than 5% in June. The remaining 27 counties had rates that came in at 5% or higher.
In the Chattanooga region, jobless rates were lowest last month in Northwest Georgia with unemployment below 3% in all three of the Georgia bedroom counties - Catoosa, Dade and Walker - of the Chattanooga metropolitan area.
Jobless rates were highest in the Chattanooga region in the rural counties north of Chattanooga, including Bledsoe County, which had the second highest unemployment rate among Tennessee's 95 counties at 6.7% in June.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340. Follow on Twitter at @dflessner1.
Staff Photo by Dave Flessner / Taco Bell in East Brainerd, shown Wednesday, is among many fast-food restaurants advertising to hire more workers to fill open jobs. Despite an increase in Chattanooga's nonseasonally adjusted jobless rate in June, many employers are still having trouble filling job vacancies.