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Chattanooga jobless rate drops to lowest March level in 17 years

Construction crews work to build the $19 million Moxy hotel along King Street at Market Street in dowtown Chattanooga. The 108-room hotel is one of three new boutique hotels being added downtown this year in Chattanooga, helping to boost construction employmet in Chattanoga by 6 percent in the past 12 months.
Construction crews work to build the $19 million Moxy hotel along King Street at Market Street in dowtown Chattanooga. The 108-room hotel is one of three new boutique hotels being added downtown this year in Chattanooga, helping to boost construction employmet in Chattanoga by 6 percent in the past 12 months. Construction crews work to build the $19 million Moxy hotel along King Street at Market Street in dowtown Chattanooga. The 108-room hotel is one of three new boutique hotels being added downtown this year in Chattanooga, helping to boost construction employmet in Chattanoga by 6 percent in the past 12 months.

By Dave Flessner 3 min read

Unemployment fell in metropolitan Chattanooga to its lowest March level in 17 years as employers in the 6-county region added a net 8,437 jobs over the past year.

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Thursday that the jobless rate in metro Chattanooga last month dropped by two tenths of a percentage point to 3.5 percent, matching the lowest non-seasonally adjusted rates for March in Chattanooga since 2001. Employment over the past 12 months grew by more than 3.3 percent in metro Chattanooga, or more than twice the U.S. growth rate in jobs.

Chattanooga’s construction industry grew by 6 percent over the past 12 months, or twice the U.S. rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Chattanooga and Cleveland showed strong gains in building jobs,” said Kenneth Simonson, chief economist for Associated General Contractors of America, noting that many contractors are now reporting trouble filling available jobs.

Unemployment in metro Nashville was the lowest among all major cities in the state at 2.7 percent last month, well below both the comparable statewide rate in Tennessee of 3.5 percent or the U.S. rate of 4.1 percent.