Tennessee’s economy continued to show signs of recovery from the COVID-19 health emergency in July. Newly released information from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development revealed statewide unemployment decreased for the third consecutive month.
Tennessee’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July 2020 was 9.5%. That is a 0.1 of a percentage point decrease from the previous month's revised rate of 9.6%.
The latest jobless rate is 6.1 percentage points higher than it was a year ago in July 2019.
Employers across Tennessee added 600 new jobs between June and July. The leisure/hospitality sector, along with the professional/business services and manufacturing sectors created the most jobs during the month.
While those three sectors showed the biggest gains in employment during July, they are also responsible for the biggest losses over the last year. Between July 2019 and July 2020, nonfarm employment decreased by 160,600 jobs in Tennessee. The hardest-hit sectors were leisure/hospitality, manufacturing, and professional/business services.
Across the United States, unemployment also decreased in July. The preliminary, seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate is 10.2%, a 0.9 of a percentage point drop from the previous month’s rate.
The July rate for the nation is 6.5 percentage points higher than it was one year ago.
A complete analysis of Tennessee’s unemployment situation, including which industries were impacted the most in July, is available here.
As Tennessee economy rebounds, employers across the state are hiring. Jobs4TN.gov offers a wide range of services for Tennesseans looking for new work. Currently, there are more than 221,000 job listings posted on the site. Job seekers can also visit their local American Job Center where career specialists can help them find new employment or training for a new career.
