Job losses continue to mount for both the state and the nation. Nonfarm jobs in Tennessee plummeted 6.7 percent while the U.S saw employment losses totaling 5.7 percent in the first quarter of 2009. These are the worst quarterly setbacks in the current cycle. The decline in manufacturing was worse still with losses approaching 20 percent for both the U.S. and Tennessee economies. The state unemployment rate jumped to 9.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, compared to an 8.1 percent unemployment rate for the nation.