MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center has released a report on the state’s housing and employment sectors during the first quarter of 2013.

David Penn, director of the center and a professor of economics, notes that job growth accelerated in Tennessee during the first quarter of 2013 with employers adding 20,000 nonfarm jobs from the previous quarter, expanding at a 3 percent annual rate.

Dr. David Penn

Meanwhile, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to a monthly average of 5,146 during the quarter, the lowest since prerecession levels. Initial claims fall when employers lay off fewer workers.

The number of unemployed people in Tennessee rose by 3,000, most likely due to an increase in the number of job seekers. The unemployment rate rose slightly because the number of job seekers increased more rapidly than the number of jobs available.

Click on the image to access the full housing/jobs report.

In the housing sector, single-family home construction for Tennessee was out of step with the South and the United States in the first quarter, according to the BERC report.

Seasonally adjusted single-family construction fell to an annual rate of 14,900 units from 15,500 in the previous quarter, a 4.1 percent decline. By contrast, the South gained 4.8 percent and the United States 4.4 percent.

Find the full report at http://capone.mtsu.edu/berc/housingbrief.html or by clicking on the image at left.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)