Tennessee's Unemployment Rate for May Increases Slightly

MAY RATE TWO PERCENTAGE POINTS LOWER THAN YEAR AGO

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips announced today the Tennessee preliminary unemployment rate for May is 6.4%, a tenth of one percentage point higher than the 6.3% April revised rate.  The U.S. preliminary rate for May is 6.3%, same as the U.S. April revised rate.

Economic Summary:

• Over the past year, Tennessee's unemployment rate decreased from 8.4% to 6.4% while the national rate decreased from 7.5% to 6.3%.
• Total nonfarm employment increased 6,700 jobs from April to May. The largest increases occurred in leisure/hospitality, retail trade, and local government.

Over the year, nonfarm employment increased 56,900 jobs. The largest increases occurred in professional/business services, leisure/hospitality, and trade/transportation/utilities.

 For a schedule of media release dates, please visit http://www.tn.gov/labor-wfd/news/tfs.shtml.

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