Matt Murray, associate director of the Center for Business and Economic Research of the University of TennesseeUnemployment fell last month to the lowest level in more than three years across Tennessee and Georgia, although the 0.9 percent annual growth in jobs in both states still was well below the usual pace of previous economic recoveries.
The jobless rate in March fell to 7.9 percent in Tennessee, the lowest since November 2008, while unemployment last month declined to 9 percent in Georgia, the lowest since February 2009.
“The decline in unemployment is encouraging and we project it will gradually decline further during 2012,” University of Tennessee Economist Matt Murray said. “But the pace of employment gains doesn’t indicate a strong recovery.”
Indeed, the number of Tennesseans on the job in March actually declined by 7,600, or 0.3 percent, compared with February’s employment average. The jobless rate fell last month because the number of Tennesseans looking for work also shrank during March.
Tennessee Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said the drop in the unemployment rate from 8 percent in February to 7.9 percent in March “is attributable to losses in both employment and unemployment, but the number of unemployed declined at a faster rate, resulting in the net decrease in the state rate.”