It's often been said that numbers don't lie. Perhaps not, but that doesn't mean they always tell the truth.
Tennessee's unemployment rate has been stuck above the national average for quite some time, despite improvements in the job market in the wake of the recession. The state jobless rate for March, for instance, clocked in at 6.3 percent, with the national average at 5.5 percent. But that doesn't necessarily mean Tennessee is beset by a mysterious economic force that depresses hiring.
"We actually believe [the answer] is in the data," economist Bill Fox said. "We're measuring the unemployment rate using the least reliable measure of unemployment data."
That's just one conclusion of the Center for Business and Economics Research's assessment of Tennessee's economy in the first quarter of 2015. Fox is the report's lead author.
Entity filings in Tennessee increased in the first three months of the year. That's an indicator that more business plan to set up shop in the state, Fox told WUOT's Brandon Hollingsworth.
Other findings show demand for housing continues to be languid, and that winter storms in February kept consumers bundled up at home instead of shopping for goods.
This is an extended version of the conversation that aired on All Things Considered on Thursday, May 21.