Unemployment fell last month across Tennessee and Georgia, although the jobless rates in both states remained above the national average.
Tennessee added 11,200 last month to cut the unemployment rate by 0.4 percent to 8.7 percent _ the lowest rate in three years, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported Thursday.
In Georgia, unemployment fell by one-tenth of a percent to 9.7 percent in December following the biggest two-month drop in unemployment in nearly 35 years.
Nationwide, the unemployment rate declined by one-tenth of a percent last month to 8.5 percent.
“We expect the improvement to continue this year as the recovery gains more traction,” said Matt Murray, associate director for the University of Tennessee’s Center for Business and Economic Research. “But unemployment will still remain at historically high levels.”