Tennessee March Unemployment Rate Steady At 9.5%

Nashville, TN (2011-04-15) Tennessee Commissioner of Labor & Workforce Development Karla Davis announced today that for the second month in a row, Tennessee experienced substantial employment growth.

“Tennessee had 17,400 more people employed in March than in February,” said Commissioner Karla Davis. “The state also saw healthy growth in the number of people joining in the job search. Tennessee’s civilian labor force grew 0.5 percent from February to March as 16,300 more people looked for jobs.”

Tennessee’s unemployment rate for March was 9.5 percent, unchanged from the revised February rate. The national unemployment rate for March 2011 was 8.8 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the February rate of 8.9 percent.

Month-to-month increases occurred in leisure and hospitality, up 7,200 jobs, and trade, transportation, and utilities, up 3,100. Health care/social assistance and durable goods manufacturing both increased by 2,300. Declines took place in private educational services, down 600 jobs, and finance and insurance, down 400. Information, non-store retailers, and health/personal care stores all lost 200.

Year-over-year increases took place in educational and health services, up 11,400 jobs; professional and business services, up 6,400; and mining and construction, up 6,000. Transportation and warehousing increased by 4,700, a signal of economic improvement. Durable goods manufacturing was up 3,300 over the year. Employment decreases were in nondurable goods manufacturing, down 2,700 jobs, and retail trade, down 1,700.