Tennessee’s unemployment rate ticked slightly down again last month. It’s now at 7.8 percent – just a hair better than the national rate. One reason is more Tennesseans who are out of a job seem have stopped looking for one.
April marks the ninth straight month statewide unemployment went down. But officials with Tennessee’s labor department caution that doesn’t necessarily show finding work getting easier. Rather, the state’s overall workforce has been shrinking all spring. Between March and April about 10 thousand Tennesseans evidently gave up on job searches.
And officials note when those discouraged workers start trying to get hired again, it could push Tennessee’s unemployment rate back up.
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