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NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips announced today that in September 2017, for the first time ever, below 5 percent in every county across the state. This is the second consecutive month rates have declined in each of Tennessee’s 95 counties. September also marked the fourth consecutive month Tennessee experienced a historic low statewide unemployment rate. At 3 percent, Tennessee has the lowest unemployment in the southeast and the eighth lowest rate in the nation.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will hold budget hearings for Fiscal Year 2018-2019 on Monday, November 6 through Thursday, November 9. The hearings will be held in the Executive Conference Room on the ground floor of the State Capitol. Haslam, Finance and Administration Commissioner Larry Martin, Chief Operating Officer Greg Adams and David Thurman, state budget director, will preside over the hearings.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips today announced that unemployment rates decreased last month in all 95 counties and significantly dropped in many rural counties, which often have the highest unemployment rates in the state. The county figures were released one week after the state posted an August statewide unemployment rate of 3.3 percent – the lowest in recorded history. “To see a decrease in each and every county across Tennessee is quite an accomplishment and a sign of our state’s financial strength,” Haslam said. “Our historic low unemployment rate is a reflection of Tennessee’s policies – we’re a low tax state that encourages business investment and we don’t have a lot of debt, which allows businesses to thrive and create jobs.”

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips today announced Tennessee’s unemployment rate for June 2017 was 3.6 percent, the lowest in Tennessee recorded history. The June 2017 preliminary seasonally adjusted rate surpasses the previous low of 3.7 percent from March 2000. The state has not experienced an unemployment rate below 4.0 percent since it was 3.9 percent in February 2001.

NASHVILLE – In a luncheon at the Tennessee Residence today, Governor Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam honored 23 state employees for their exceptional service to the state and their fellow Tennesseans. This is the second group of state employees receiving the Governor’s Excellence in Service Awards, a program Gov. Haslam launched in 2016 to honor outstanding state employees. Great service in state government is like great service anywhere – the key ingredient is great employees,” Gov. Haslam said. “The 23 state employees receiving this honor are on the front lines of what we do, leading the effort to help us make Tennessee the best managed state in the nation. I appreciate all the work they and other state employees do to help make Tennessee the best place to live, work and raise a family.”