By the numbers
7.2 percent – Georgia’s jobless rate in November, down from preliminary 7.7 percent in October6.8 percent – Tennessee’s jobless rate in November, down from 7.1 percent in October5.8 percent – U.S. jobless rate in November. unchanged from the previous monthSources: Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Georgia Department of Labor
Tennessee and Georgia are adding jobs this year at a faster pace than the nation as a whole, but both states continued to have unemployment rates above the U.S. average again in November.
The jobless rate in Georgia dropped by the biggest monthly amount in 38 years last month, falling a half of a percent to 7.2 percent. In Tennessee, unemployment dropped during November by three-tenths of a percentage point to 6.8 percent — the lowest rate since June.
“This continues the pattern that started in August with Tennessee’s rate falling faster than the U.S. as a whole,” said Bill Fox, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee. “We’re seeing consistent growth now — and the drop in oil prices should only help in that recovery.”
Nonetheless, state economists still expect Tennessee and Georgia to have elevated jobless rates compared with the U.S. as a whole during at least the first part of 2015.