(NASHVILLE)  Unemployment across Tennessee decreased significantly in November 2020 according to newly released data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).

 
Tennessee’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November is 5.3%, a 2 percentage point drop from October’s revised rate of 7.3%. The new statistic is just 2 percentage points higher than the state’s unemployment rate one year ago in November.
 
The current rate is also 2 percentage points higher than it was in March 2020, just one month before the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in Tennessee. In April, Tennessee’s unemployment reached its all-time high of 15.5%.
 
Total nonfarm employment increased by 2,100 jobs between October and November. The manufacturing sector recorded the largest number of new hires for the month, followed by the trade/transportation/utilities and mining/logging/construction sectors.

While seasonally adjusted unemployment was down nationally in November, the nation did not see the improvement in its jobless rate Tennessee experienced. The United States unemployment rate for the month decreased to 6.7%, down 0.2 of a percentage point from October’s revised rate of 6.9%.
 
Tennessee employers continue to help the state’s economy rebound and are searching for employees of all skill levels.
 
Currently, on the state’s workforce development website, Jobs4TN.gov, job seekers can find more than 240,000 open positions in a wide range of occupations and skill levels.
 
The state also recently launched the Tennessee Virtual American Job Center (VAJC). The new website is located at www.TNVirtualAJC.com. It allows Tennesseans to research different programs, from different state agencies, that can help them remove barriers to employment, so they can more easily reenter Tennessee’s workforce.