By AP
Nashville, TN – Tennessee's unemployment rate for March was 10.6 percent, down one-tenth of a percent from February. Tennessee Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development James Neeley says the labor force last month increased 9 thousand 7 hundred, the most since October 2005.
Neeley says, however, that sustained growth is needed to recover from unprecedented losses during the recession. According to a state news release, 6,600 job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality; 5,200 in mining and construction; 4,800 in trade, transportation and utilities; and 4,700 in administrative, support and waste services.
Major employment decreases occurred in financial activities, down by 1,000 jobs; information, down by 700; and professional, scientific and technical services, down by 400.