Job-Seekers May Face Tough Times Ahead

From the Daily News Journal (June 22, 2008): "The state's unemployment rate increased from 5.4 percent in April to 6.4 percent in May. . . . the largest one-month jump ever recorded. David Penn, director of MTSU's Business and Economic Research Center, . . . said May's figure could be an error because employment by industry doesn't show a big jump [and] data from another month are needed to determine if that's the case. 'If we see leveling off or decline, then we know that the figure in May was an aberration. If not, then we have problems.' Although Penn expects Rutherford County's unemployment to grow from April to May, he expects it to be a smaller jump than the state's rate. 'The job market is going to trail behind the rest of the economy.' Penn said it may take six months to a year — or longer — before conditions improve."