Tracking Recovery continued

Labor Force and Non-Farm Employment

Figure 1 shows the number of Tennesseans in the labor force and the total number employed since January 2008, the month after the economy peaked. The labor force is defined as the number of persons, aged 16 and older, who are employed or are actively seeking work. That number typically moves up and down as the economy expands and contracts, usually growing when the economy is growing and contracting when job opportunities become scarce. The data are provided for non-farm employment on only a monthly basis. Farm employment is not included in these figures because it is highly seasonal. Figure 1 shows that while the labor force fell at the early stages of the recession in 2008 and again in 2009, the trend, smoothing out the ups and downs, has been a slow increase in the number of persons identifying themselves as in the labor force. On the other hand, after the decline in the total number of people employed bottomed out in late 2009, employment growth has been very irregular and modest at best.

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Fig. 1. Tennessee Labor Force and Non-farm Employment

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, BERC

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