Labor Market Information
Data note – due to the federal government shutdown, October 2025 data has been canceled. February data will be released in late April 2026.
The Knoxville MSA’s unemployment rate in January was 3.1% (up from 2.9% in December and down from 3.5% in January 2025.) Knox County’s unemployment rate in January was 2.9% (up from 2.7% in December and down from 3.3% in January 2025.) Tennessee’s unemployment rate was 3.6% in January (up from 3.4% in December and down from 3.8% in last January.) The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.7% in January (up from 4.1% in December and up from 4.4% in last January.)
Knox County’s labor force slightly decreased 0.3% from 262,151 in December to 261,250 in January. The Knoxville MSA’s labor force slightly decreased 0.4% from 467,121 in December to 465,196 in January. Tennessee’s labor force slightly decreased 1.1% from 3,527,850 in December to 3,488,871 in January. The national labor force slightly decreased 0.7% from 170,723,000 in December to 169,612,000 in January.
Below is the 13-month unemployment rates trending comparison for the four largest MSA’s in Tennessee –
Job Market
For the month of February, there were 9,352 unique new job postings in the Knoxville MSA (up 4.0% from January and down 5.1% from last February.) There were 6,084 unique new job postings in Knox County (up 8.9% from January and down 5.7% from this time last year.)
The Top 10 industries (by number of job postings) in the Knoxville MSA in February were –
The Top 10 occupations (by number of job postings) in the Knoxville MSA in February were –
You can view the 13-month job postings trend for Knox County and the Knoxville MSA below.
(Source: Lightcast – formerly Emsi Burning Glass)
Tennessee is #12 on WalletHub’s Best States for Working from Home Ranking
WalletHub, the personal finance website, recently released its 2026 rankings of the Best States for Working from Home by comparing all 50 states and the District of Columbia using twelve metrics across two key dimensions – “Work Environment” and “Living Environment.” Metrics for the “Work Environment” include share of workers working from home, share of potential telecommuters, households’ internet access, and cybersecurity risk. Metrics for the “Living Environment” include average retail price of electricity, median square footage per average number of persons per household, share of detached housing units, average home square footage, share of “for sale” homes with lots greater than 1,000 square feet, and share of “for sale” homes with a swimming pool.
Tennessee ranked #12 overall. The Volunteer State had the fourth best “Living Environment” and the 21st best “Work Environment.” The top ten best states for working from home were #1 Utah, #2 Delaware, #3 Connecticut, #4 Maryland, #5 Massachusetts, #6 New Jersey, #7 Rhode Island, #8 Washington, #9 Virginia, and #10 North Carolina. You can read more here.
ADP National Employment Report®
Each month, ADP, a large-scale payroll and human resources company, in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, releases the National Employment Report®, which provides a high-level look at month-over-month private-sector employment changes across the country.
The March report shows a net gain of 62,000 jobs in private-sector employment (down from the 63,000 net jobs gain in February). Industry sectors showing positive job growth in March include Education and Health Services (+58,000), Construction (+30,000), Information (+16,000), Natural Resources and Mining (+11,000), Leisure and Hospitality (+7,000), Financial Activities (+4,000), Other Services (+4,000), and Professional and Business Services (+1,000).
The industry sectors that showed job losses in March were Trade/Transportation/Utilities (-58,000) and Manufacturing (-11,000).
By establishment size, “Very Small” businesses (with 1-19 employees) gained 112,000 jobs and mid-sized businesses (with 250-499 employees) gained 6,000 jobs. “Other Small” businesses (with 20-49 employees) lost 27,000 jobs, mid-sized businesses (with 50-249 employees) lost 26,000 jobs, and large businesses (with 500+ employees) lost 4,000 jobs.
(Source: ADP)
Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index
Each month, Intuit QuickBooks, the accounting software provider for small and medium-sized businesses, releases the Small Business Index Report, which analyzes employment and revenue trends for small businesses in the U.S. with one to nine employees across twelve industry sectors.
In March, there were 12,640,300 people employed by U.S. small businesses with one to nine employees, down 5,600 from February. Jobs decreased in eleven of the twelve industry sectors tracked by the Index including Agriculture/Natural Resources/Mining (-3,400), Education and Health Services (-700), Retail Trade (-500), Manufacturing (-400), Professional and Business Services (-400), Finance and Real Estate (-200), Construction (-100), Information (-100), Transportation and Warehousing (-100), and Wholesale Trade (-100). The Utilities sector employment was only down -0.03%. The only tracked sector showing growth was Leisure and Hospitality (+300).
Below is the 13-month total employment trend for U.S. small businesses with one to nine employees –
Please note that all monthly small business employment estimates are subject to revision.
You can access the full report here.
(Source: Intuit QuickBooks)
Worker Shortage Update
The labor shortages are persisting longer than many economists expected. There continues to be high job demand and slower workforce growth resulting in fierce competition for talent and many open jobs going unfilled. According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the nation had 6.9 million jobs to fill and only 4.8 million hires in February, leaving 2.1 million jobs unfilled.
In February, the largest increases in U.S. job openings were in other services (+77,000), professional and business services (+64,000), and retail trade (+24,000).
The largest decreases in job openings were in accommodation and food services (-211,000), manufacturing (-71,000), health care and social assistance (-51,000), construction (-28,000), financial activities (-28,000), private educational services (-27,000), wholesale trade (-26,000), information (-9,000), transportation/warehousing/utilities (-5,000), and arts/entertainment/recreation (-2,000).
It will take time for this mismatch between labor demand and supply to align. In the meantime, wages will continue to rise as businesses compete to attract talent. You can read the latest job openings summary from BLS here.
Consumer Price Index (CPI – Inflation Rates)
Data note: due to the federal government shutdown, October data has been canceled.
The national inflation rate from February 2025 to February 2026 is 2.4% (unchanged from the January 2025 to January 2026 period. Last year, the national inflation rate was 2.8% from February 2024 to February 2025.
The February CPI report marks the 44th straight month that year-over-year inflation is below the June 2022 CPI peak high of 9.1%. High prices for some items will likely linger longer.
From a year ago, natural gas prices are up 10.9%, airline fares are up 7.1%, hospital services are up 7.1%, auto repair services are up 5.6%, electricity costs are up 4.8%, eating out prices are up 3.9%, housing prices are up 3.0%, rent is up 2.7%, apparel is up 2.5%, groceries are up 2.4%, physicians’ services are up 2.1%, new vehicle prices are up 0.5%, and auto insurance is up 0.2%.
From a year ago, gasoline prices are down 5.6% and used car prices are down 3.2%.
The Federal Reserve decided to maintain the target range of the federal funds rate at 3 ½ to 3 ¾ percent at its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy-setting meeting March 17-18. The Fed stated that “economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace. Job gains have remained low, and the unemployment rate has been little changed in recent months. Inflation remains somewhat elevated.” The committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. You can read more here.
Knoxville falls into the South Size Class B/C (population of 2.5 million or less) grouping. The current inflation rate for this region is 2.0% for the February 2025 to February 2026 period (down from 2.1% in the January 2025 to January 2026 period. Last year, the rate was 2.3% from February 2024 to February 2025.
(Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Consumer Price Index; Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Housing Market
February home sales in East Tennessee increased 2.9% from January at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 20,275, an increase of 16.3% over 2025.
February home sales in Knox County increased 2.2% month over month, up 20.1% from 2025, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 7,927.
The median home sales price across the East Tennessee region was $370,000 in February, up 2.7% from 2025. Knox County’s median home sale price held steady at $385,000, down 4.9% from 2025.
Half of the homes sold across the East Tennessee region went under contract in 51 days or less, up from 42 days last year.
Active inventory in the East Tennessee region was up 10.1% from the previous year.
Months of inventory for East Tennessee, or the number of months it would take to exhaust active listings at the current sales rate, remains tight at 3.7 months due to unseasonably robust sales activity from December through February.
You can subscribe to the East Tennessee REALTORS® monthly Market Pulse Newsletter here.
East Tennessee REALTORS® reports monthly home sales patterns using a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR), an adjusted rate that takes into account typical seasonal fluctuations in data and is expressed as an annual total. Comparing month-over-month housing market data using this method provides a more accurate depiction of home sales.
(Sources: National Association of REALTORS®; East Tennessee REALTORS®)
(Sources: U.S. Housing & Urban Development – SOCDS – State of the Cities Data Systems; U.S. Census Bureau – Building Permits Survey)
National Retail Sales
The total advance monthly retail sales estimate for February 2026 was $653.480 billion (down 3.1% from January and up 2.2% from last February.)
The retail sectors that showed sales growth from last February were Sporting Goods/Books/Hobby/Music Stores (+6.5%), Non-store Retailers (+6.3%), Electronics and Appliance Stores (+5.4%), Food Services and Drinking Places (+4.4%), Clothing Stores (+3.8%), Building Materials (+2.7%), Health and Personal Care Stores (+2.6%), Miscellaneous Stores (+2.3%), Motor Vehicles and Parts Sales (+1.1%), and General Merchandise Stores (+0.5%).
The retail sectors that showed a decline in sales from last February were Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores (-6.1%), Food and Beverage Stores (-1.2%), and Gasoline Stations (-0.5%).
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau; Advance Monthly Retail Trade Reports; Not Adjusted)
Tennessee State and Local Sales Tax Collections
The Knoxville MSA region collected $114.322 million in state sales taxes in February (down 21.5% from January and up 0.3% from last February) and Knox County collected $73.790 million in February (down 22.9% from January and up 1.2% from last February.) The state of Tennessee collected $1.092 billion in state sales taxes in February (down 25.2% from January and up 0.6% from last February.)
The Knoxville MSA collected $44.859 million in local sales taxes in February (down 24.2% from January and up 4.3% from last February) and Knox County collected $27.114 million in February (down 25.0% from January and up 3.6% from last February.)
(Source: Tennessee Department of Revenue)
Recent Business Expansions and New Business Announcements in the Knoxville Region
In this section of ECO, we share announcements of businesses that are expanding their existing operations or locating a new facility in the Knoxville region. If you would like to share your business expansion announcement with us, please send your info to [email protected].
New and existing industries continue to invest in the Knoxville region.
March 27, 2026 – The City of Oak Ridge’s Industrial Development Board officially signed a land transfer conveying 624 acres at the SSP-2 site at the East Tennessee Technology Park to Orano for the development of Project IKE, a proposed $5 billion, 750,000-square-foot uranium enrichment facility that could reshape the nation’s nuclear fuel supply chain. You can read more here.
Knox County Business Licenses
New business licenses issued in February 2026 by Knox County are down 40.9% from January and are up 7.5% from February 2025.
A total of 243 new business licenses were issued in February 2026 compared to 411 in January and 226 in February 2025. The top industry sectors for which business licenses were issued in February 2026 were services, construction, retail, and non-classified.
(Source: Knox County Clerk)
McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) Passenger and Freight Trends
The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority recorded 223,282 passengers in February (up 1.1% from February 2025.) Year-to-date (12 months-to-date) passenger traffic through February is 3,621,193 (up 6.4% from year-to-date passenger traffic through February 2025.)
The total freight recorded in February at TYS was 3,950,963 pounds (down 36.9% from February 2025.)
According to the Transportation Security Administration, the average daily number of passengers passing through the nation’s TSA checkpoints in February was 2,294,866 (up 2.7% from the February 2025 daily passenger average of 2,235,369 and up 11.0% from the pre-COVID February 2019 average of 2,068,336.) You can view the daily TSA checkpoint travel numbers here.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) , “In the U.S., domestic traffic returned to positive territory in February. Passenger volumes increased by 1.5% YoY, while capacity rose by a more modest 0.3%, resulting in a 0.9 percentage point increase in the load factor to 79.6%. The load factor remained below the industry average.” You can read more here.
(Sources: Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority; U.S. Transportation Security Administration; International Air Transport Association)
