Tennessee continues to experience record-low unemployment, according to data released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The rate for June came in at 3%, which was unchanged from the all-time low unemployment rate the state recorded in May.

In a year-to-year comparison, Tennessee’s June 2024 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by 0.1%.

Employers added new jobs to Tennessee’s workforce between May and June and increased nonfarm employment by 400 jobs. The mining, logging, and construction sector and the education and health services sector had the biggest gains in employment. The manufacturing sector also added a sizable number of new positions during the month.

Over the year, nonfarm employment did decrease across the state by 5,900 jobs. The administrative, support, and waste services sector saw the largest dip in employment. The real estate, rental, and leasing sector experienced the next largest decrease, followed by the nondurable goods manufacturing sector.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate inched up in June from 4% to 4.1%. The rate is 0.5% higher than it was in June 2023.

O’Connell transit plan passes Council hurdle

Metro Council unanimously passed on third reading the ballot language for Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s transportation improvement program, Choose How You Move: An All-Access Pass to Sidewalks, Signals, Service and Safety.

This is the fourth piece of critical legislation to pass unanimously this year; previous unanimous votes include the mayor’s capital spending plan, the FY2025 operating budget, and the East Bank developer agreement with The Fallon Co.

Investing in the city’s transportation system is uniquely popular among Nashvillians. The latest polling from Vanderbilt shows 84% of Nashvillians support holding a transportation referendum, and 90% of people surveyed by Imagine Nashville agree that investing in citywide public transportation is an important priority.

The election commission will now hold a final vote to approve the program’s placement on the November ballot.

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Watch new stadium progress via streaming

Fans can now view progress on the new Nissan Stadium via a live camera that overlooks the construction site. The camera is live during typical site working hours.

Site work has been underway since groundbreaking in February 2024, with excavation beginning shortly thereafter. Approximately 400,000 cubic yards of soil were excavated for the project, with the excavation process scheduled to conclude this week. Most soil will be exported off-site, while some will remain behind for other use during the project.

The construction team is also drilling 767 piers into the ground that will support the building’s structure. More than 500 piers have been drilled thus far.

Tennessee Builders Alliance, which includes Nashville-based I.C.F. Builders, Brentwood-based Polk & Associates, Turner Construction Company and AECOM Hunt, is serving as the construction manager for the project.

The stadium is scheduled to be complete in Spring 2027.

Zillow: Sellers cutting prices as inventory grows

Home listings are piling up as buyers step back from the peak of home shopping season faster than normal, according to the latest monthly report from Zillow.

“A growing segment of homes that aren’t competitively priced or well marketed are lingering on the market. Sellers are increasingly cutting prices to entice buyers struggling with affordability,” said Skylar Olsen, chief economist of Zillow. “For years, the housing market has been defined by fast sales and few options. Now it’s starting to look more like it did before the pandemic in terms of competition, if not costs. As the wait for mortgage rate relief drags on, slower price growth and even dips in some areas will help buyers catch up on saving for a down payment.”

The total number of homes on the market has risen throughout the year, ticking up 4% from May to June to stand nearly 23% above last year’s low level. While inventory levels are still about 33% below pre-pandemic averages, that’s the smallest deficit since the fall of 2020, when the pool of available homes was quickly dropping.

Inventory is higher than last year in all of the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas except two – New York and Cleveland – and rose month over month in all but five.

Attractive listings are selling relatively quickly. But buyers still in the market are enjoying a few more days to weigh their choices than they had last summer. Homes sold in June were typically on the market for 15 days before the seller accepted an offer. That’s five days shorter than pre-pandemic norms, the smallest difference since June 2020.

Kirkland picks up Newsweek retailer honor

Brentwood-based Kirkland’s, Inc., a specialty retailer of home décor and furnishings, has been recognized as America’s No. 1 Home Goods & Décor Retailer by Newsweek as part of its third annual ranking of America’s Best Retailers.

Newsweek partnered with Statista to survey more than 7,000 shoppers resulting in a ranking that recognizes the 200 best places to make a purchase. Survey participants were asked how likely they are to recommend a retailer and to give their thoughts on an outlet’s prices, selection and atmosphere. Customer service and accessibility were also considered.

SentriForce brings surveillance work to Tennessee

SentriForce, a provider of video surveillance solutions, has announced the expansion of its services to major cities across the Southern United States, including Nashville, Miami and Jacksonville, Florida, and Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia.

SentriForce specializes in comprehensive video monitoring for construction sites, residential neighborhoods, apartment communities, retail commercial properties and municipal infrastructure facilities.

Client requests prompted the recent growth, CEO Chris Peschang says, noting that many areas of the country lack local options for surveillance support.

SentriForce offers live, U.S.-based video monitoring, intrusion response and dispatch, video investigation and AI-powered parking lot safety solutions. The company tailors its services to the unique needs of each industry served and leverages the latest technologies, including high-definition cameras, thermal imaging and license plate recognition.

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TDEC grants to boost recycling education

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation last week announced $332,953 in grants for education, outreach and organics management for projects to help reduce landfill waste and increase recycling education in Tennessee.

The grant program encourages and supports local communities to meet solid waste and recycling goals. Local governments can divert more waste from landfills through infrastructure upgrades and provide convenient opportunities for residents to get engaged in the process.

The grants are administered by TDEC’s Division of Solid Waste Management.

The Education and Outreach grant will help local governments produce material needed to consistently promote waste reduction and recycling best practices for established solid waste programs. The primary purpose is to inform residents what they can recycle, where they can recycle and when they can recycle.

Organics management grants are for counties, cities, solid waste authorities and other tax-exempt nonprofit recycling entities designated as 501(c)(3) organizations. The grants prioritize public/private partnerships, new or expanded organics management services and reductions in food waste.

Davidson County organizations totaled $130,053 in grants, including to Metro government for education materials and a food scrap program, the Tennessee Environmental Council for education materials, and Rosebank Elementary School for its composting program.

Study links low-quality sleep, chronic disease

Insufficient, irregular and poor-quality sleep is associated with many chronic conditions, including obesity, atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

Those were the main conclusions of a study recently published in the journal Nature Medicine from corresponding author Evan Brittain, M.D., MSCI, professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Unlike prior research, which relied on cross-sectional and self-reported survey data or polysomnograms, the study used objectively measured, longitudinal sleep data from commercial wearable devices linked to electronic health record data from the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program. It is the largest study to date using this method.

Brittain said the study shows that by getting enough sleep and reducing variability around sleep onset and wake times, patients can reduce the incidence of chronic disease. The insights gained from the research may inform clinical guidance around sleep to promote good health.

The study examined 6,875 individuals who wore Fitbit devices and collected sleep data for at least six months, along with their linked electronic health records.

Because of inherent limitations in available data, the median age of participants was 50 years old, 71% were female, 84% identified as white and 71% had a college degree.

The studied individuals tracked sleep with wearable devices for a median of nearly 4 ½ years.

The study also suggested people might need less sleep each night than traditionally recommended. Surprisingly, Brittain said, the study showed that seven hours was the median amount of sleep needed for good outcomes.

Defense tech Nominal expands to Tennessee

Nominal, a defense technology company specializing in software solutions that accelerate the delivery of mission-critical hardware systems, is expanding its operations to Tennessee with a Nashville office.

Nominal is focused on providing state-of-the-art software solutions that streamline the analysis, visualization and reporting of test data, and enhance the development and validation of complex hardware systems. By fostering secure collaboration and data visibility, Nominal’s platform ensures that engineering teams can tie together the full life cycle of hardware testing from prototype to production, faster and at scale.