Department of Numbers

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

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Nashville fell 0.1 percentage points in February 2021 to 4.1%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.8 percentage points lower than the Tennessee rate. The unemployment rate in Nashville peaked in April 2020 at 15.7% and is now 11.6 percentage points lower. You can also compare Nashville unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate February 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
National 6.2% -0.1 +2.7
Tennessee 4.9% -0.2 +1.0
Nashville 4.1% -0.1 +1.5
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with February 2021 data as March 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 119,244 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Nashville employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Nashville, Tennessee) is also available.

Unemployed Persons February 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
Nashville 44,924 -767 +15,949

Number of Unemployed Persons

Nashville, Tennessee Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Tennessee
Unemployment Rate		 Nashville
Unemployment Rate		 Nashville
Unemployed
March
2021		 6.0% — — —
February
2021		 6.2% 4.9% 4.1% 44,924
January
2021		 6.3% 5.1% 4.2% 45,691
December
2020		 6.7% 5.6% 5.5% 60,813
November
2020		 6.7% 5.6% 4.4% 49,027
October
2020		 6.9% 7.8% 6.2% 66,870
September
2020		 7.8% 7.9% 6.3% 67,444
August
2020		 8.4% 8.1% 8.5% 93,141
July
2020		 10.2% 8.9% 10.0% 101,746
June
2020		 11.1% 9.3% 9.9% 102,465
May
2020		 13.3% 9.6% 11.4% 121,644
April
2020		 14.8% 15.8% 15.7% 164,168

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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