MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Tennessee’s unemployment rate has risen for the third month in a row and now stands three-tenths above the national jobless rate.
Tennessee’s unemployment rate in March was 7.9 percent, up one-tenth from February’s rate. Tennessee’s jobless rate had dropped to 7.6 percent in December before starting to rise the first of the year.
Unemployment rose in education, health and retail trade. New jobs were created in business services, transportation and utilities.
In spite of the rise, the Tennessee Department of Labor says it was the best March for jobs since 2008.