Tennessee Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips announced Thursday the Tennessee preliminary unemployment rate for March was 4.5 percent, four-tenths of a percentage point decrease from the February revised rate of 4.9 percent. The U.S. preliminary rate for March was 5.0 percent, increasing one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month.

• Over the past year, Tennessee's unemployment rate decreased from 6.0 percent to 4.5 percent while the national rate declined from 5.5 percent to 5.0 percent.
• Total nonfarm employment decreased 700 jobs from February to March. The largest decreases occurred in government, leisure/hospitality, administrative/support/waste services & mining/logging/construction.
• Over the year, nonfarm employment increased 91,800 jobs. The largest increases occurred in trade/transportation/utilities, education/health services & professional/business services.