A new government study shows Tennessee’s economy is improving, but the state still faces a rising number of closing businesses and a stubbornly high unemployment rate.
According to the Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators Report, published by the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office and the University of Tennessee Knoxville, more than 8,000 new businesses were filed from April to June. That's nearly a 10 percent jump from a year ago.
Many of those were in the professional services, tourism and healthcare industries.
Dr. William Fox with the UT-Knoxville Center for Business and Economic Research attributes the growth to the recovering national economy.
“The price of gasoline has come down as you well know recently, and that’s helped the national economy as well,” Fox said. “But I think Tennessee has been very successful in terms of recruiting new businesses to the state and with our entrepreneurship.”
However, more and more businesses are closing their doors. 4,398 dissolved this quarter. That’s more than double the same time last year.
And while unemployment dropped to 5.7 percent in June, the state still rests above the national average.
“There’s a lot of churning in the economy, and so you expect some of those firms and others not to succeed,” Fox said. “But it’s the net that matters and our net growth has still been very good.”
You can find the full report here, published by the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office and the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Center for Business and Economic Research.