Department of Numbers

Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tennessee Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Nashville fell 1.6 percentage points in August 2020 to 8.4%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.1 percentage points lower than the Tennessee rate. The unemployment rate in Nashville peaked in April 2020 at 15.7% and is now 7.3 percentage points lower. You can also compare Nashville unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate August 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
National 8.4% -1.8 +4.7
Tennessee 8.5% -1.2 +5.1
Nashville 8.4% -1.6 +5.8
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with August 2020 data as September metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Nashville, Tennessee, National

Nashville, Tennessee monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Nashville, Tennessee Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Nashville peaked in April 2020 at 164,168. There are now 71,908 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Nashville employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Nashville, Tennessee) is also available.

Unemployed Persons August 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
Nashville 92,260 -9,486 +63,873

Number of Unemployed Persons

Nashville, Tennessee Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Tennessee
Unemployment Rate		 Nashville
Unemployment Rate		 Nashville
Unemployed
September
2020		 7.9% — — —
August
2020		 8.4% 8.5% 8.4% 92,260
July
2020		 10.2% 9.7% 10.0% 101,746
June
2020		 11.1% 9.6% 9.9% 102,465
May
2020		 13.3% 11.0% 11.4% 121,644
April
2020		 14.7% 15.5% 15.7% 164,168
March
2020		 4.4% 3.3% 2.6% 28,800
February
2020		 3.5% 3.4% 2.6% 28,975
January
2020		 3.6% 3.3% 2.6% 28,446
December
2019		 3.5% 3.3% 2.6% 28,506
November
2019		 3.5% 3.3% 2.6% 28,430
October
2019		 3.6% 3.3% 2.6% 28,378

1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩

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