Jobless in June
* 3.5 percent - Tennessee unemployment rate, unchanged* 4 percent - U.S. unemployment rate, up 0.2 percent* 4.1 percent - Georgia unemployment rate, down 0.1 percentSources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Georgia Department of Labor, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Unemployment fell last month in Georgia to its lowest monthly rate in 17 years while Tennessee's jobless rate remained steady and within two tenths of a percent of its lowest rate in the past two decades.
The 4.1 percent jobless rate in Georgia during June was slightly above the U.S. rate but the lowest in the Peach State since 2001.
Tennessee's jobless rate was lower at 3.5 percent, marking the 14th consecutive month of unemployment below both the U.S. rate and the 4 percent level often regarded as full employment.
Tennessee career centers currently are listing 24 percent more jobs available in the state than there are unemployed persons looking for work. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development listed 168,289 jobs on Thursday, or nearly one fourth more jobs than the 135,800 Tennesseans who were unemployed in June.
Employers across Georgia and Tennessee added a total of more than 157,000 jobs in the past year, including nearly 28,500 jobs during June alone.
"To see that many new jobs come online in June is great for all of Tennessee," Tennessee Labor Commissioner Burns Phillip said. "It is an indication that our workforce is prepared to meet the needs of today's employers and we will continue to encourage that job growth across the state."
The tightening labor market has helped push up wages for production employees in Tennessee by 3.3 percent in the past year, due to both hourly wage increases and longer workweeks.
Georgia manufacturing wages rose an average 2.7 percent in the past year.
But factory workers in Tennessee, who earned an average of $843.66 per week last month, and Georgia factory workers, who averaged $811 .84 in weekly earnings during June, were still well below the U.S. average weekly wage for manufacturing workers of 1,104.
Employment growth in both Tennessee and Georgia exceeded the U.S. average in the past year and both states recorded a record number of employed persons during June.
"To have an entire year with historically low unemployment is a remarkable milestone," Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said in a announcement of the new jobless rate Thursday. "We have made tremendous progress over the last eight years by investing in Tennesseans through workforce development initiatives, creating pathways to higher education and fostering an economic environment where businesses can thrive and grow, and I know Tennessee will to lead in job creation."
Since May 2017, Tennessee's unemployment rate has been at or below 3.8 percent. April 2017 was the last time Tennessee's rate was at 4 percent.
Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June 2018 experienced a slight increase to 4.0 percent, up 0.2 of a percentage point from May's revised unemployment rate of 3.8 percent. Even with the small uptick, June's national rate is 0.3 of a percentage point lower than it was the previous year.
In June, Georgia hit a record high 4.94 million employed residents. Likewise, Georgia's labor force continued to climb, increasing by 10,401 in June to a record high of about 5.1 million.
"While the nation's jobs and unemployment numbers are beginning to level off, Georgia continues to improve across just about every metric," Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said. "Georgia's labor force and job market are as big as they have ever been, and they continue to grow.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.