Tennessee Commissioner of Labor & Workforce Development James Neeley announced Tennessee’s unemployment rate for March was 5.6 percent, up 0.3 percentage point from the February rate of 5.3. In 2007 the March unemployment rate was 4.5 percent. The national unemployment rate for March 2008 was 5.1 percent, up from the February national rate of 4.8 percent.
February to March gains occurred in leisure and hospitality employment increasing by 6,600; trade, transportation and utilities employment increased 4,400; and jobs in construction, natural resources and mining increased 2,500. Month-to-month declines included information employment, down 200. Employment in plastic and rubber products manufacturing lost 200 jobs.
Coffee County’s rate rose from 5.4 to 5.7; Cannon County stayed the same in March at 5.2%; Franklin County had a tough month going up from 5.7 to 6.1; Grundy County had a big jump going up 0.8 to 7.6%; Moore County was the only local county to go down dropping from 5.3 to 5%; Warren County went up slightly from the February rate of 7.4 to a March rate of 7.5; Rutherford County continues to have a rough time despite all the growth went their unemployment rate rising 1.4% over the past year with a current rate of 4.9%.
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