Tennessee’s September unemployment rate was 5.7 percent

The state added 3,400 private-sector jobs and 1,300 government jobs, according to the monthly employment report by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The state unemployment rate dropped to 4.6 percent despite losing 7,100 jobs, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported Thursday.

Over the past year, Tennessee’s unemployment rate decreased from 6.6 percent to 5.7 percent while the national rate declined from 5.9 percent to 5.1 percent. The USA preliminary rate for September was 5.1 percent, also unchanged from the prior month.

“Hiring across the state took a step backward in September, although forward momentum is still being sustained”, said Paul Turek, labor economist with ESD. “Some adjustments in hiring appear to be occurring as employers start transitioning to the holiday season, and a few may be due to new challenges presented by global economic conditions”. On the other hand, manufacturing lost 2,400 jobs, information lost 1,000 and professional and business services lost another 1,000.

The disappointing state jobs report follows the September federal employment report, released October 2, which was similarly disappointing and with US job growth that was below analysts’ expectations. But that drop was driven by a decline of 21,900 in the Massachusetts labor force over the month.

Both the jobs numbers and the unemployment rate are subject to revision. ESD paid unemployment benefits to 52,431 people.

The state has now added 39,600 jobs from a year ago.

From September 2014 to September 2015, all 13 major industries saw growth.