Good news for small business owners: Tennessee continues to show strong signs of economic growth.
In Nashville and Davidson County, for example, first-quarter employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that wages have risen by more than 6 percent since early 2017, which was the biggest year-over-year wage increase since 2015. The Nashville Post outlined more key highlights of the data:
- For counties with more than 400,000 employees, Davidson County ranked fifth for year-over-year growth—up there with Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and Silicon Valley.
- Nationwide, the average weekly wage was $1,152, while in Nashville it was more than $1,200.
- Total employment in Davidson County also rose by 2.7 percent from first quarter 2017 to first quarter 2018.
Meanwhile, statewide, unemployment in July went down in almost two-thirds of Tennessee counties, reported the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development:
- In 57 counties, the unemployment rate improved.
- In 19 counties, the unemployment rate stayed steady when compared with June.
- In 19 other counties, the unemployment rate increased.
- In total, 62 counties had unemployment rates lower than 5 percent, while 33 counties had rates of 5 percent or higher.
- Williamson County’s rate of 2.9 percent was the lowest, while Davidson County came in second with 3 percent joblessness.
It’s no wonder, then, that CNBC ranked Tennessee in the top third in its Top States for Business list for 2018. Tennessee ranked 13th overall, 27th for workforce, fifth for infrastructure, 15th for cost of doing business, seventh for economy, 47th for quality of life, 30th for technology and innovation, 33rd for education, eighth for business friendliness, 23rd for access to capital, and fifth for cost of living.