By DON FENLEY

TRI-CITIES, Tenn. – The local jobs economy hasn’t slumped as much as the U.S. marker did in July, but it’s getting softer. Local employers added 100 seasonally adjusted jobs last month and there were 500 more jobs than July last year. That brought the three-month average job growth to 133 a month, down from 333 during the previous three months.

July’s regional employment saw a drop of 31 that was largely the result of 135 fewer people in the labor force. The employment rate dropped to 3.9% from 4% the previous month.

The unadjusted gain/loss jobs churn saw its biggest gains last month in construction and the biggest loss in government.

Job gains

• Construction, up 300
• Education and Health Services, up 200
• Manufacturing, up 100
• Wholesale trade, up 100
• Retail trade, up 100.

Job losses

• Government, down 2,400
• Professional and business services, down 500
• Other services, down 300

WHO’S HIRING  

There are 6,312 job openings in NE TN, down from 7,178 jobs in June, according to the Jobs4TN website. Firms with the largest number of openings are:

• Food City – 336
• ETSU – 151
• GPM Investments – 139
• Tacala – 120
• Ballad – 114
• Addus Home Care – 79
• McDonald’s – 72
• Compass Group – 50

FASTEST JOBS GROWTH  

• Fast food and counter workers – $26,662 annual avg. wage.
• Retail salespersons – $27,751 annual avg. wage.
• Wait staff – $21,677 annual avg. wage.
• Customer service representatives – $35,881 annual avg. wage
• Cashiers – $25,051 annual avg. wage

OCCUPATIONS WITH HIGHEST ESTIMATED WAGES

• Nurse Anesthetists – $207,208
• Family Medicine Physicians – $195,808
• Podiatrist – $190,986
• Medical Scientists, except epidemiologists – $160,657
• Chief executives – $155,719
• Dentist, general – $155,604
• Sales engineers – $145,733
• Administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers – $141,517
• Compensation and benefits managers $141,043
• Architectural and engineering managers – 135,672

TOP INDUSTRIES BY JOB OPENINGS

• Health care and social assistance – 5,365
• Unclassified – 2,146
• Retail trade – 1,257
• Accommodation and food services – 1,043
• Administrative and support and waste management – 952
• Manufacturing – 469
• Professional, scientific and technical service – 225
• Construction – 175
• Wholesale trade – 165
• Transportation and warehousing – 157

WAGES  

The average regional hourly wage is $27.38, unchanged from last month.

Tennessee’s average hourly wage is $32 an hour, unchanged from last month.

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE  

The NE Tenn. labor force participation rate increased to 53% from 52.8% in the latest reporting.

The U.S. rate is 63% and it’s 59.9% in Tennessee.

Washington Co. has the highest participation rate in NE TN at 55.7%. Greene Co. has the lowest current rate at 49.7%.

UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS

• Unclassified establishments – 231
• Manufacturing – 174
• Administrative and Support and Waste Management – 151
• Retail Trade – 100
• Health Care and Social Assistance – 91
• Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services – 86
• Accommodation, and Food Services – 77
• Construction – 45
• Information – 41
• Wholesale trade – 37

Categories: ECONOMY