By DON FENLEY

TRI-CITIES, Tenn. – Job creation slowed for the second month in November. Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll jobs declined by 1,000 from October even as retailers began ramping up for the holidays.

Employment was down by 1,542 from October. The labor force also declined. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% from 3.7%.

Last month’s losses don’t mean job creation has stopped. So far this year employers have averaged adding 82 jobs a month. However, the growth rate is slowing. Compared to November last year, there were 2,000 more jobs in the region’s two metro areas plus Greene and Johnson counties.

Despite the slight month-over-month softening, other parts of the labor economy were resilient. Wages in the region’s two metro areas continued improving, and the labor force participation rate inched higher.

Statistically, the region is at full employment with a labor shortage.

WHO’S HIRING  

There are 6,964 job openings in NE TN and 6,352 candidates, according to Jobs4TN. That’s slightly higher than last month, and the list of firms with the most open jobs is familiar.

• Ballad – 752
• Food City – 234
• Ingles – 224
• ETSU – 156
• Frontier Health – 79

FASTEST JOB GROWTH  

Fast food and counter workers – $22,052 annual avg. wage.

Retail salespersons – $27,540 annual avg. wage.

Wait staff – $19,880 annual avg. wage.

Customer service representatives – $36,264 annual avg. wage

Cashiers – $22,461 annual avg. wage

ADVERTISED JOB TRENDS

Top Certification Jobs

Registered nurse – 1,501

Advanced cardiac life support – 731

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation – 731

Licensed practical nurse – 445

Pediatric advanced life support – 435

PRIVATE SECTOR WAGES  

Private sector wages in both metro areas are outperforming last year, and the monthly increases are higher than the inflation rate. Wages and the growth rate in the Johnson City metro area are higher than they are in Kingsport-Bristol.

Average wages in both metro areas are lower than the state average.

Johnson City’s average of $26.08 an hour is down 49 cents from October. The average hours worked were unchanged at 32.9. Compared to Nov. last year, the Johnson City average is up 12.9% ($109.52 a week).

Kingsport-Bristol’s average is $23.09, up 57 cents an hour. Some of the increase comes for the increase in the average work week from 35.4 hours to 35. Compared to last year, Kingsport-Bristol’s average is up 5.1%) ($42 a week) from last year.

The regional average wage is $24.90 an hour for 194,365 employees.

The state average is $29.68 an hour.

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE  

The NE Tenn. labor force participation rate increased 0.3% to 53.3%.

The US rate is 62.7% and it’s 59.7% in Tennessee.

JOB SECTOR PERFORMANCE

Retailers began ramping up for the holiday season by adding 400 jobs last month.

It wasn’t enough to balance losses in five other sectors.

Sectors cutting jobs were:

• Professional and business services, down 300
• Leisure and hospitality, down 300
• Other services, down 200
• Manufacturing, down 200
• Construction, down 100

YEAR-OVER-YEAR EMPLOYMENT STATUS  

Johnson City metro area

Middle Tennessee State University’s year-over-year employment tracking shows growth in four sectors. Top growth sectors are:

• Other services, up 3.6%
• Construction – up 3.6%

The declining sectors are:

• Transportation and utilities, down 10%
• Professional and business services, down 1%
• Retail trade – down 0.9%

Kingsport-Bristol metro area

All but two sectors are higher or even with last year. The best performers are:

• Construction, up 6.7%
• Retail trace, up 4.5%
• Other services, up 3.6%
• Professional and business services, up 2.8%

Sectors with fewer jobs were:

• Manufacturing – down 2.4%
• Transportation and utilities, down 1.9%

Categories: LABOR MARKET