March Unemployment Rate in Tennessee Confirmed to be 3.4%

New data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) showed the statewide preliminary unemployment rate for March decreased to 3.4% after the statistic has held steady at 3.5% for the last five months.

The decrease put the seasonally adjusted rate for March just 0.2 of a percentage point away from Tennessee’s all-time low jobless number of 3.2%.

County-by-county numbers for March won't be released until the end of this month. However, numbers from this past February placed Rutherford County at number 4 on the list of top ten counties with the lowest unemployment rate in the state of Tennessee. Rutherford County tied with number three Cheatham County, both holding an unemployment figure of 2.7%. Smyrna had the lowest unemployment rate in Rutherford County at 2.7% for the month of February, followed by Murfreesboro's rate of 2.8%. LaVergne recorded a 2.9% unemployment rate last month. See the news story from February HERE.

In a year-to-year comparison, the statewide unemployment rate increased slightly from 3.3% to 3.4%.

Employers across the state continue to add workers to their payrolls. They created 1,700 new non-farm jobs between February and March. The largest increase occurred in the leisure and hospitality sector. The manufacturing sector and the education and health services sector had the next largest month-to-month increases.

Tennessee also experienced an increase in non-farm employment over the last year. Employers added 96,900 jobs across the state. The leisure and hospitality sector, the education and health services, and then the government sector accounted for the biggest gains in employment.

TDLWD has prepared a complete analysis of the state’s March 2023 unemployment data which is available here.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also decreased in March. It dropped 0.1 of a percentage point to 3.5%. When compared to the March 2022 rate, the current figure decreased by 0.1 of a percentage point.

Tennessee employers, in every corner of the state, continue to search for a skilled workforce. Jobs4TN.gov has more than 350,000 open positions posted.

Job seekers can find a wide range of information that can help them return to the workforce at TNWorkReady.com. The site has resources available that will point individuals to the nearest American Job Center, help them identify job training opportunities, or lead them down the path to a high school equivalency diploma.

The state of Tennessee will release unemployment data for all 95 counties on Thursday, April 27, 2023.

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