Updated 09/15/2017

The preliminary unemployment rate for August shows a decline of one-tenth of a percent from July, says Commissioner Burns Phillips of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. August is the seventh consecutive month Tennessee has seen a decline in the statistic.

Phillips said the see the unemployment rate decrease nearly every month is 2017 is a positive sign that the state is experiencing growth in the state, and the Governor's programs aimed at spurring growth are working.

While Tennessee’s latest unemployment rate dropped, the national unemployment rate increased from 4.3 percent to 4.4 percent.