KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- When Sheila Overs was laid off from her engineering firm two weeks ago, she didn't bat an eye.

"I think a lot of the employers now are really searching for the good quality people now and they have the jobs available," she told us.
It's a very different experience from a few years ago; job hunting in the thick of a nationwide recession. Overs said, "It was a lot harder 3 years ago before I got hired where I was."

Brookings Institution tracks development in the top 100 biggest cities in the U.S. They say Knoxville is growing; adding jobs in the construction, manufacturing, health services, and agricultural industries.

"It shows people in this county are willing to work," said Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett. "Knox County is a great place to do business. We've got good schools, we've got good people, we've got a good infrastructure."

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero echoed, "We have felt the recovery. We're seeing more people coming in with those development projects, and it's good to see that we're ranked so high across the nation."

And even though city and county officials are optimistic about the area's recovery, Mayor Burchett cautioned, we've still got a long way to go. "Regardless of what Washington says, I still hear every day of folks needing work," he said.

Knoxville did lose jobs in some sectors, including finance, government and education. But the study says unemployment has gone down.