Home » Legislative Update from State Senator Joey Hensley: Drop in Unemployment Rate & Continuing Job Opportunities

Legislative Update from State Senator Joey Hensley: Drop in Unemployment Rate & Continuing Job Opportunities

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   This session ended with the passing of major legislation and a budget that will benefit Tennesseans for generations to come. Ensuring that Tennessee has a low employment rate and that there are ample job opportunities for our citizens is of upmost importance to us here at the Legislature.

    Our budget included the following allocations to continue job opportunities in the state:

-Appropriates $222 million in new economic development funding;

-Includes $20 million for broadband initiatives to fund the final year of a three-year initiative to increase broadband accessibility through grants and tax credits in rural areas which is critical to job development;

-Provides $70 million to create new job opportunities for Tennesseans through FastTrack job development;

-Provides $15 million to promote innovation and entrepreneurship aimed at increasing new businesses from research and development activities throughout the state for rural development grants and loans for small minority and women-owned rural businesses; and

-Includes $4 million for the Tourism Marketing Task Force to aid the state’s tourism industry which has a tremendous impact on Tennessee’s economy.

   Not only have we allocated funds to continue the growth of jobs in Tennessee, but we have continued to look for ways to ensure that unemployment is at an all-time low. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced that the unemployment rates in each of Tennessee’s 95 counties dropped during August 2019. The unemployment rate is now less than 5 percent in 89 of those counties.

   Commissioner Jeff McCord, for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, addressed the drop in unemployment saying, “Many counties saw unemployment decrease by more than a percentage point in August, while several dropped by two percentage points. To see lower rates in every county across the state is always a positive sign coming out of the summer months”.

   At the State level, seasonally adjusted unemployment across Tennessee held steady in August matching July’s rate of 3.5 percent. At the national level, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also remained the same in August at 3.7 percent for the second consecutive month.

   The state of Tennessee offers a complete analysis of the August 2019 county unemployment rates through a report that you can access through the Department’s website. Job seekers can find more than 200,000 current openings from across the state on Tennessee’s workforce development website www.Jobs4TN.gov.

You May Contact Senator Hensley at

425 5th Avenue North, Suite 746

Nashville TN 37243

615-741-3100

Toll Free 1-800-449-8366 ext. 13100

Fax 615-253-0231

855 Summertown Highway

Hohenwald TN 38462

Phone 931-796-2018

Cell Phone 931-212-8823

E-mail: [email protected]

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