Tennessee jobless rate rises to 8.5 percent in August

Thursday, September 20, 2012

photo Timothy Goines, left, has help from Adrian Craighead while looking for jobs on the computer at the Tennessee Employment Service Office at Eastgate Center in Brainerd in this file photo.

Unemployment in Tennessee rose in August for the fourth consecutive month, pushing the state's jobless rate four tenths of a percent above the comparable U.S. jobless rate.

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said today that 8.5 percent of the state's workers were without jobs during August, up a tenth of a percent from July's rate.

Total nonfarm employment decreased by 5,100 jobs from July to August, due to cutbacks in local government, manufacturing and trade.

Over the past year, however, Tennessee has added a net 24,600 jobs. A year ago, Tennessee's jobless rate was 9.1 percent.