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Seasonal Losses Push Tenn. Jobless Rate Higher

tn.gov

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Tennessee’s unemployment rate rose in June for the third straight month.

The Tennessee Department of Labor says the jobless rate rose two-tenths from May’s rate to 8.5 percent in June. Tennessee’s unemployment rate is now nine-tenths of one percent above the national figure of 7.6 percent.

The Department of Labor says Tennessee lost more than 16,000 jobs in June, but spokesman Jeff Hentschel notes most of those positions are seasonal.

“It’s very noticeable that we saw, specifically, employees of the school system temporarily lose their jobs and this really shows up in the numbers. It’s more than 15,000 less jobs that we had this month.”

Hentschel says that, historically, many of those jobs will be recovered when teachers return to work this month and next.

He notes that, year over year, Tennessee gained more than 32,000 jobs between June 2012 and June 2013.