State jobless rate drops

Posted: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 7:00 pm

Nashville – Tennessee Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development Karla Davis announced recently Tennessee’s unemployment rate for January fell to 8.2 percent, down from the December revised rate of 8.5. The national unemployment rate for January 2011 was 8.3 percent, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the December rate.
Tennessee’s unemployment rate is below the U.S. rate for the first time since November 2010 The number of unemployed persons (257,500) is the lowest since November 2008.
The number of employed persons (2,877,300) is the highest since March 2008.UT Economist Bill Fox says the short-term industry reports are unusual when compared with yearly information. “Year-over-year the amount of goods production, specifically construction and durable goods manufacturing, was very strong. This short-term outpacing of goods manufacturing as compared with jobs created in service industries is unlike what we’ve seen for a while.”

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