Year-over-year business filings in Tennessee increased for the 33rd consecutive quarter and unemployment remained below the national average, according to a report released Tuesday by Secretary of State Tre Hargett.
“Tennessee welcomes new business, and business leaders continue to take note,” Hargett said in a news release. “Our data shows strong growth across the state and a healthy economy with no signs of slowing down.”
In the fourth quarter of 2019, Tennessee had 10,604 new business filings, which was a 7.8 percent increase over 2018’s fourth quarter.
Domestic nonprofit corporations saw the highest new-filing increase of any category at 13.3 percent. Domestic limited liability corporations saw a 9.3 percent increase, and foreign entities saw an 8.8 percent increase. New filings for domestic for-profit corporations were 3.8 percent lower than 2018’s fourth quarter. In all, 83.5 percent of new filings were domestic, and the remaining 16.5 percent were foreign.
Unemployment remained at 3.3 percent, which is a record low. The national unemployment rate was slightly higher at 3.6 percent. Total nonfarm employment increased by 49,200 jobs in December – a 1.6 percent increase compared with December 2018. Tax revenues grew by 4.9 percent in December 2019, compared with December 2018. Sales and use tax increased by 4.1 percent, and franchise and excise tax revenue grew by 9.2 percent.
“We’re in the longest economic expansion in the modern history of the U.S.,” Dr. William Fox, the director of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville’s Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research, said Tuesday in a teleconference.
Tennessee’s growth has been in line with national trends. Although the national economy has continued to grow, Fox noted the coronavirus outbreak has started to harm the global economy. The outbreak did not affect the most-recent report, but it likely could cause problems for upcoming numbers.
The spread of the virus has affected trade and travel for China and neighboring countries and has caused concern the situation will get worse. Just this week, the alarm has caused the Dow Jones, S&P and Nasdaq to all drop.
