New business filings for the first quarter of 2019 increased nine percent in Tennessee from 2018.

The office of Secretary of State Tre Hargett says 12,512 new entity filings were recorded in the first quarter of the year, which mark 30 consecutive quarters of positive year-over-year new business growth.

The Tennessee Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report shows employment in the manufacturing sector also grew by 2.2 percent in March, compared to last March. That translates to 7,500 jobs.

Tennessee’s four largest counties recorded a little over 7,200 new business-entity filings during the first quarter, an increase of  9.1 over the same period last year.