By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Small businesses key to historically low state unemployment numbers
Unemployment small business photo.JPG
Michael Saylors of Griffins Produce on West Broad puts out fall produce. Small businesses like this one are key to Tennessees continued lower unemployment numbers.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips announced the state unemployment rate fell to three percent in September, marking the lowest it has been since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the information in January of 1976.

Tennessee first marked a historic low unemployment rate in June at 3.6 percent, which was bested by the July rate of 3.4 percent, and then fell even lower in August to 3.3 percent.

“Since June, the state’s unemployment rate has been on a steady, record-breaking decline. Behind these history making figures are real working Tennesseans – people who get up and go to work each day to provide for their families,” Haslam said. 

“As a state, we have invested in our workforce through education programs like Tennessee Reconnect and Tennessee Promise, creating a workforce prepared to fill jobs and increasing the number of high-skilled Tennesseans,” he added.

While Tennessee’s latest unemployment rate dropped by 0.3 percentage points, the rate for the United States dropped by 0.2 percentage points to 4.2 percent. The national rate is down 0.7 percentage points from September 2016 while Tennessee’s seasonally adjusted rate for September 2017 is down 1.9 percentage points from the previous year.

Williamson County tops the state with an unbelievable 2.1 percent unemployment rate. That’s followed by Davidson County (2.2 percent).

In DeKalb County, unemployment went down again to 3.7 percent down from 4.4 percent in August and below the 6 percent one year ago. It has been on a downward trend from a high of 13.7 percent in January of 2010. 

Experts credit the role of small business in helping the economy recover since 2010 in the United States. Tennessee hasn’t been a stranger to recruiting larger enterprises as well. Volkswagen employs more than 3,200 plant employees, more than 9,500 indirect supplier employees and has made a $1 billion-dollar investment with over $12 billion expected income growth in Tennessee, according to Volkswagen Group of America.

The neighboring counties of Warren County (3.0), White (3.2),  and Wilson (2.3) all logged record numbers as well.