Updated Economic Indicators

http://capone.mtsu.edu/berc/tacir/tacir.html 

David Penn: "State sales tax collections continue to grow rapidly, rising 0.8% in July...." See MSA and state indicators at Tracking Tennessee's Economy.

Updated Economic Indicators

http://mtsu.edu/berc/tacir 

• Seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment for Tennessee dropped sharply in June due mostly to a loss of government jobs. Nonfarm employment declined 0.6%, the largest one-month decline since 2009, losing 16,500 jobs. Most of the lost jobs occurred in local government and federal government due to federal budget sequester cutbacks. Over the year, the job growth rate fell to 1.2% after seasonal adjustments. Excluding government employment, the private sector nonfarm employment growth rate is 2.1% over the year. 
• Unemployment rate for Tennessee rose to 8.5% in June as the number unemployed rose for the sixth consecutive month while employment, as measured by the household survey, continued to decline.
• State sales tax collections fell sharply in June following a very large unsustainable increase in May. State sales tax collections are just 1.2% higher over the year. 
• Seasonally adjusted initial claims for Tennessee declined in June to 5,477 following three months of increases. The less-volatile trend is little changed. Claims remain very low compared with the past five years. [
• Permits issued for single-family home construction in Tennessee increased greatly in May, rising to 1,574 units from 1,341 in April. The May figure is the most number of permits issued since September 2008. The less volatile also gained, rising to 1,375 units.

Graphs: Search by MSA at Tracking Tennessee's Economic Recovery

Updated Economic Indicators

http://mtsu.edu/berc/tacir 

• Seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment for Tennessee increased 5,700 in May due to gains in manufacturing, trade, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality. Over the year, nonfarm employment has grown 52,500, but the rate of growth has slowed since January.  Due to public sector downsizing, the private sector growth rate (2.2%) is larger than the growth rate of public and private employers combined (1.9%) over the year.
• The Tennessee unemployment rate continued to gain, increasing to 8.3% in May. The unemployment rate is based on model estimates that rely on a survey of households. Part of the gain in the unemployment rate is due to an increased number of job seekers (unemployed), but part is also due to fewer employed. Declining employment reported by the household survey contrasts with modest job growth registered by the employer survey (nonfarm employment). 
• State sales tax collections rose significantly, gaining 1.6% from April after seasonal adjustments.  Over the year, collections from the state sales tax are 3.9% higher.

Graphs: Search by MSA at Tracking Tennessee's Economic Recovery

Updated Economic Indicators

www.mtsu.edu/berc/tacir 
Economic indicators and employment heat tables for Tennessee and 10 MSAs have been updated through May.

• Seasonally adjusted Tennessee initial claims for unemployment insurance climbed in May to a weekly average of 5,689 compared with 5,112 for April, signaling a rise in layoff activity. The less volatile moving average continued to decline, however, falling to its lowest level since April 2006.
• The unemployment rate for Tennessee rose in May to 7.9 percent, as not enough jobs were created to absorb a rise in the number of job seekers. The unemployment rate increased from April in all metropolitan areas with the exception of Clarksville.
• Seasonally adjusted single-family home construction for May rose substantially for Tennessee and for six of 10 metropolitan areas. The less volatile moving average is on the rise for Chattanooga, Clarksville, Knoxville, and Memphis MSAs but flat for the Cleveland, Jackson, Johnson City, and Morristown MSAs. The trend is falling somewhat for the Kingsport-Bristol and Nashville MSAs.
• Seasonally adjusted state sales tax collections hit a rough spot in May, with the state and all but one MSA showing a drop from the previous month. The less volatile moving average continued to climb, however.
• Nonfarm employment for May is virtually unchanged from April. Job growth has been very modest during the past four months.

See graphs and downloadable tables at Tracking Tennessee's Economic Recovery.