Health Care continues to be one of the region’s strongest growth areas

By DON FENLEY

TRI-CITIES, Tenn. –  The August surge in government employment brightened the local jobs picture with 1,900 non-adjusted jobs. The seasonal adjusted number brought the monthly job gains to 200 jobs. That’s 75 fewer than the currently monthly average growth rate.

There are 800 more than this time last year.

The big picture is all of the national labor market slump hasn’t trickled down to the local level year. The job creation growth rate is slowing, but still moving forward.

Here how the monthly gain/loss jobs churn looked.

Job gains

• Professional and Business Services, up 300
• Education and Health Services, up 200
• Government, up 1,900

Job losses

• Construction, down 100
• Manufacturing, down 100
• Wholesale Trade, down 100
• Retail Trade, down 200
• Other services, down 300

WHO’S HIRING  

There are 5,545 job openings in NE TN, down from 6,312 this time last month, according to the Jobs4TN website. Firms with the largest number of openings are:

• Food City – 326
• ETSU – 140
• Tacala – 120
• Ballad Health – 117
• Addus Home Care – 82
• Frontier Health – 77
• McDonalds – 73
• Eastman- 67
• Anders Group – 61
• Compass Group – 49

FASTEST JOBS GROWTH  

• Fast food and counter workers – $26,662 annual avg. wage.
• Retail salespersons – $28,751 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

• Pharmacists – $131,872
• Registered Nurses – $97,760
• Physical Therapists – $96,340
• Civil Engineers – $95,000
• Critical Care Nurses – $91,598
• Management Analysts – $82,500
• Accountants and Auditors – $64,878
• Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses -0 $58,240
• Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers – $46,945
• Police and Sheriff Patrol Officers – $45,094

TOP INDUSTRIES BY JOB OPENINGS

• Health Care and Social Assistance – 4,485
• Retail Trade – 1,283
• Unclassified – 1,273
• Accommodations and Food Service – 902
• Administrative and Support and Waste Management – 692
• Manufacturing – 417
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Services – 219
• Construction- 150
• Wholesale Trade – 140
• Transportation and Warehousing – 128
• Wholesale Trade – 165
• Transportation and Warehousing – 157

WAGES  

The average regional hourly wage is $27.95, up 57 cents from last month.

Tennessee’s average hourly wage is $32.08 an hour, up eight cents from last month.

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE  

The NE Tenn. labor force participation rate dropped from 53% to 52.9% in the latest report.

The U.S. rate is 63.2% and it’s 60% in Tennessee.

Johnson Co. has the highest participation rate in NE TN at 54.8%. Unicoi Co. has the lowest current rate at 48.5%.

UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS

 For the week ending Sept 14 there were 127 new unemployment claims in NE TN. That’s one fewer than the previous week.

• 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: LABOR MARKET