by Jon Styf
Tennessee’s unemployment rate rose slightly above a record low in September, rising to 3.2 percent after spending July and August at 3.1 percent.
The September rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than September 2022.
The national unemployment rate remained at 3.8 percent in September.
Average hourly wages in the state rose from $23.72 to $23.87 in September while there was an increase of 8,700 non-farm jobs. The largest job increase came in the mining, logging and construction sector followed by education and health services.
Over the past year, Tennessee increased non-farm employment by 54,000 jobs with education and health services leading the way followed by leisure and hospitality and government jobs.
Overall employment in the U.S. rose 2 percent over the past year compared to Tennessee’s 1.6 percent rise.
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Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter of The Center Square who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies.
