Nashville Weathering Recession Like Previous Business Cycles

History shows Nashville’s recovery after a recession tends to be quicker than other cities. And even with a longer than normal down period, the current business cycle is shaping up to be the same way.

Nashville hasn’t been able to avoid the full impact of national recessions, but it hasn’t gotten bogged down by them either. Garrett Harper is the chief researcher for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

“We’ve often had the peak of recession pretty briefly along with the rest of the country, then had a fairly rapid recovery that sustained itself for a prolonged period.”

Already, Nashville has dipped below the national unemployment rate of 9.5 percent.

“If history holds up over five business cycles back from the early 1970’s, it’s beginning to shape up this way again.”

Harper says one reason for the job growth is a high number of entrepreneurs – an area where Nashville out-performs its peer cities.