Unemployment stagnated in Tennessee and edged up in Georgia at the end of last year.
Tennessee’s jobless rate in December was unchanged at 7.6 percent — the lowest rate in more than four years.
In Georgia, the jobless rate rose one-tenth of a percent to 8.6 percent in December after falling for the previous three months also to a four-year low.
The sluggish December job market mirrored the U.S. economy, which ended last year with unemployment unchanged for the month at 7.8 percent.
Although unemployment remains at stubbornly high rates two years after the recession bottomed out in 2010, state officials said jobs are coming back, especially in manufacturing and building.