Tennessee Unemployment Holds Steady for Third Consecutive Month

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips today released the statewide unemployment rate for July 2018, and for the third consecutive month the statistic has remained at a historically low 3.5 percent.

Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has not only remained unchanged since May, it mirrors the 3.5 percent recorded during the same time period in 2017.

Companies also continued the trend of new job creation across the state. Between June and July, Tennessee employers bolstered the state’s economy by adding 2,500 new nonfarm jobs.

“Tennessee’s economy is strong and that shows in both a continuous low unemployment rate and the creation of more new jobs,” Haslam said. “We have worked hard to get to where we are, by creating an environment in Tennessee where businesses can thrive and building strong workforce development programs that are paying off for both citizens and employers.”

Over the past 12 months, nonfarm employment in Tennessee has increased by 56,300 jobs. The largest increases occurred in the state’s leisure/hospitality, professional/business services, and education/health services sectors.

“It’s encouraging to see so many new jobs coming to Tennessee,” Phillips said. “We have the state’s business services teams out in communities across the state, working closely with companies, to ensure they have a qualified workforce to fill those positions.”

While Tennessee’s unemployment rate remained unchanged during July, the national unemployment rate ticked down during the time period. At 3.9 percent, the seasonally adjusted rate decreased by 0.1 of a percentage point compared to the previous month.

The statewide unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted to eliminate the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events from an economic time series.

Tennesseans who are searching for employment opportunities can access the latest job openings, update their resumes, and sharpen their job interview skills by visiting the state’s workforce website.

A complete analysis of Tennessee’s unemployment data for July 2018 can be found here.

The state of Tennessee will release the August 2018 county unemployment data on Thursday, August 23, 2018, at 1:30 p.m. CT.