Click on chart for a larger file. Jobs are reported by thousands.

Despite the month-over-month seasonal jobs churn, the Tri-Cities labor market is stable and edging upward. Year-over-year gains are broad, and taken with August’s reversal of the summer seasonal slump, the trend is a reversal of the national softening jobs market. The local consistent upward job creation pace highlights the region’s ability to expand employment even in a slower economic environment.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the region gained 1,700 jobs in August and ended the three-month summer slump. So far this year, employers have averaged a monthly job creation rate of 400 jobs.

August’s regional headline unemployment rate dropped to 4%. Greeneville’s unemployment woes also eased. More about that in a separate story.

Compared to last year, the Tri-Cities is up 2,500 jobs from August last year.

August’s job churn followed a familiar pattern. Government jobs accounted for the lion’s share increase. They were up 2,100.

Other sectors with job increases included manufacturing, transportation, and utilities, professional, and business services, and private education and health services. The only sector with a job loss was retail trade.

Compared to last year, education and health services and government are the Johnson City metro’s best performers. Both are up 3%. Financial activities is down 2% and manufacturing is down 1%. The overall gain for the three-county region is 6.7%.

Kingsport-Bristol’s government sector has seen strong (6%) growth followed by gains in the other services, construction, leisure, and hospitality and education and health services. The only sector with a 12-month negative performance is manufacturing. The two Tennessee counties in the four-county metro area have logged a 7.8% gain over this time last year.

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations continue to dominate local job demand with 1,445 openings. Registered nurses top the “most-wanted” list with 338 openings listed in the most current Jobs4TN account. The listing for physicians shows 316 openings.

By the Numbers

• Total job openings: 5,198 up from 5,051 in July
• Average local wage: $29.18 an hour. The Tennessee average is $33.33 an hour

One of the region’s long-running struggles remains workforce participation. Just over half (53.3%) of working-age residents are part of the labor force—well below both the U.S. average (62.6%) and Tennessee’s (60.2%). Local counties vary widely:

• Washington: 59.6%
• Unicoi: 53.8%
• Sullivan: 54.2%
• Carter: 51.3%
• Greene: 48.5%
• Hawkins: 47.8%

Categories: LABOR MARKET