An economic report released by the Secretary of State’s office Tuesday shows Tennessee’s economy continues to grow in 2016 with no signs of stopping any time soon.
There were 9,546 new entity filings during the first quarter of 2016, representing a 9.9 percent increase of the same time last year. New entity filings have now grown for 18 consecutive quarters.
The Tennessee Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report is created to provide a periodic snapshot of the state’s economy based on a variety of information, including new business data from the Division of Business Services. It’s published through a partnership with Secretary of State Tre Hargett and the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Center for Business and Economic Research.
“Our data shows just how strong Tennessee’s economy is today and gives us an idea of how much stronger we will be moving forward,” Secretary Hargett said.
Davidson County led the way with the most initial filings among the state’s four largest counties with 2,265. Shelby County had 1,716. Knox and Hamilton Counties rounded out the top four with 756 and 595 respectively.
Domestic limited liability corporations (LLCs) showed the largest year-over-years gains with a 16.1 percent increase, when tracking annual report submissions. Foreign entities followed (11.2 percent) along with domestic nonprofit corporations (8.3 percent).
Tennessee’s March unemployment rate of 4.5 percent fell 0.4 percentage points compared to February. This marks the first time the state’s unemployment rate fell below the national rate since February 2014. It’s the lowest unemployment rate that the state has recorded since June 2007.