Writer: Joey Garrand
2 min read May 2021 — As many Nashvillians and Middle Tennesseans know, the Nashville area economy has proven to be more stable and resilient than other economies across the country. The key to its success, as the latest job and wage figures suggest, is diversity, ranging across a wide variety of industries.
On March 31, 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its annual Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) data, providing a snapshot of Middle Tennessee’s economic composition as forecast for the month of May.
Here are the estimated employment numbers for the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN metro area according to the most recent annual data by the BLS, representing the month of May 2020:
All Occupations: 965,690
Office and Administrative Support Occupations: 137,620
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations: 101,980
Sales and Related Occupations: 87,240
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations: 80,850
Management Occupations: 73,610
Business and Financial Operations Occupations: 64,170
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations: 63,940
Production Occupations: 63,550
Educational Instruction and Library Occupations: 44,100
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations: 36,980
Construction and Extraction Occupations: 34,470
Computer and Mathematical Occupations: 30,750
Healthcare Support Occupations: 28,460
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations: 22,570
Protective Service Occupations: 22,250
Personal Care and Service Occupations: 17,450
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations: 15,050
Community and Social Service Occupations: 12,120
Architecture and Engineering Occupations: 11,750
Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations: 7,790
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations: TBD
Legal Occupations: TBD
When compared to May 2019 figures, the numbers do show a reduction of approximately 30,000 in employment due to the pandemic. However, this drop of 3.34% in employment is much more attractive than the national average decline of 5.29%, with the national data also coming from the most recent OEWS data. The region’s economy truly avoids dependency on any one industry, and local leaders have witnessed the resilience of this economy firsthand.
“Historically when there’s a typical recession, Nashville has been one of the last cities to go into a recession and one of the first to come out,” said Lela Hollabaugh, managing partner of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings’ Nashville office, in an interview with Invest:. “While the pandemic is not the same thing, I still think we will respond the same way. Our economy in Nashville is diverse and that helps us weather the storm.”
Vic Alexander, Chief Manager of KraftCPAs, said the area’s economy benefits from a number of factors, including diversity. “The economy of Nashville is very strong. There is no state income tax, and we have a very diverse economy. While healthcare is an important driver of Nashville’s economy, there are other booming sectors such as manufacturing and technology. Because of this diversity, the Nashville region is not nearly as affected as other regions across the country.”
Most leaders in the Nashville region remain optimistic on Middle Tennessee’s future, and the majority agree that the economy’s strong diversification is at least in part responsible for the region’s glistening outlook.
For more information visit: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm
