January 23, 2012

State’s Unemployment Rate Fell to 8.7%

Nashville Post
Tennessee’s unemployment rate for December 2011 fell to 8.7 percent, down from the November revised rate of 9.1, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced Thursday.
The national unemployment rate for December was 8.5 percent, a decrease of 0.2 percent from the November rate.
“This is the lowest unemployment rate Tennessee has experienced since December 2008 when the rate was 8.4 percent,” Karla Davis, department commissioner, said in a release. “The drop in Tennessee’s rate is largely due to a notable increase of 11,200 employed persons from November to December.”
UT Economist Bill Fox said the Tennessee rate parallels that of the national rate.
“The drop in Tennessee’s unemployment rate mirrors what is happening nationally, but Tennessee has had much stronger employment growth.”