A Lowes store advertises job openings and gas grills outside the home improvement store in Pembroke, Mass.Unemployment fell last month in Tennessee and Georgia to the lowest level in more than three years, although the decline in Tennessee was as much from fewer people looking for work in April as it was to an improving job market.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Thursday that the jobless rate in April fell in the Volunteer State to 7.8 percent, the lowest Tennessee rate since before Barack Obama was elected president in November 2008.
In Georgia, the jobless rate dipped in April to 8.9 percent, the first time in more than three years the rate has dropped below 9 percent.
“We now have the lowest unemployment rate, the fewest unemployed workers, and the most jobs in Georgia in more than three years,” Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday in announcing the new employment figures. “Our job market continues to improve at a modest and steady rate.”
Tennessee’s jobless rate was below both the national and Georgia rate last month. But the employment gains have been slower in Tennessee in recent months.