MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis metro region added about 18,000 new jobs in 2021 and cut its unemployment rate from 7% to 4.1%, the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce reported Wednesday.
The region’s economy grew 6.2% last year, a faster pace than the national average, the Chamber’s Center for Economic Competitiveness reported. Total jobs were within 1,000 jobs of their pre-pandemic high.
Compared to the rest of Tennessee’s metro areas, the Chamber said Memphis is experiencing the second-fastest recovery from the pandemic after Nashville.
“Greater Memphis is seeing a faster, V-shaped recovery largely because of the considerable economic momentum it had going into the pandemic,” said Apryl Childs-Potter, executive director of the Center for Economic Competitiveness and the Chamber’s chief marketing officer.
Supply chain and logistics businesses in Memphis grew 13% in 2021, while advanced manufacturing grew 7%.
The Chamber touted several major job announcements last year, topped by Ford’s announcement of 5,800 jobs coming to the planned Blue Oval City manufacturing plant in Haywood County.
► Read the full report below.
