Tagged: Unemployment

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Williamson County had the hottest job market in the country last year.

A report just out by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Williamson County posted the nation’s largest employment increase with a gain of 5.4 percent between September 2010 and September 2011. The average jobs growth in the country during the period was just 1.6 percent.

The report says the largest employment increase in Williamson County occurred in the category “professional and business services,” which gained more than 1,700 jobs.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  The Tennessee Department of Labor has released its county-by-county look at unemployment for December.

Middle Tennessee’s overall jobless rate fell to 6.9 percent in December, down three-tenths from the November rate and down a full percentage point from December 2010.

Williamson County has the region’s lowest unemployment rate at 5.4 percent in December. Hickman County has the worst joblessness at 9.8 percent. Hickman and Trousdale were the only counties in the mid-state to see unemployment rise between November and December.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — The company that owns and operates Food Lion grocery stores is closing 25 groceries in Tennessee idling about 1,100 workers. The company is also reducing operations at a distribution center in Clinton near Knoxville.

Food Lion spokeswoman Christy Phillips-Brown says a severance package is being offered to eligible employees affected by the parent company's decision to close underperforming stores.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) – More than a thousand Middle Tennessee residents lined up in the cold for hours over the weekend to apply for a job at the Smyrna Nissan plant.

Yates Services hosted the job fair at the State Career Center in Murfreesboro on Saturday.

Tennessee Department of Labor area manager R.J. Sherr says all the jobs are assembly line positions on third shift that pay between $12.50 and $18.50 an hour.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Welcome news on the jobs front.

Tennessee's October unemployment rate dropped to 9.6 percent in October, down from 9.8 percent the previous month. 

Tennessee's unemployment rate is still well above the national average of 9 percent.

State Labor Commissioner Karla Davis says jobs added in education and health services fueled the employment hike.

Dr. Murat Arik with the Middle Tennessee State Center for Business and Economic Research says the numbers are mostly good news.  

MURFREESBORO, TN (AP) An estimated 3,800 people waited in line in Murfreesboro hoping to get one of the 1,600 jobs at Nissan as the automotive manufacturer looks to ramp up hiring for a new battery plant at its Smyrna facility.

Yates Services, a maintenance contractor at the plant, held a job fair on Wednesday for part-sorting, production line and forklift positions and the response was the largest turnout for any Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce job fair.