Tennessee unemployment claims pass 600,000
More than 600,000 Tennesseans have applied for unemployment benefits since March 15, according to new state data.
The amount of new weekly claims has dropped steadily since early April but has yet to fall below 20,000. In the week ending June 6, 21,417 new claims were filed – the lowest number since mid-march.
In a typical week before the novel coronavirus pandemic derailed Tennessee's economy in March, the unemployment office might receive less than 4,000 new claims. A typical month would see about 15,000 new claims, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Since March 15, 602,822 Tennesseans have filed for unemployment. Of those, 292,234 have continued to file weekly certifications to continue their claims.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development paid 309,728 claims using more than $288 million in federal coronavirus relief funds during the week ending June 6.
The department has added dozens of new staffers after its system was overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of new claims in mid-march, and recently implemented voicemail capabilities in the hopes of cutting down the hundreds of calls the unemployment office receives each day.
An unknown number of Tennesseans are still waiting for their claims to be processed and paid – some for more than two months – as bills and living expenses continue to pile up.
Nationally, another 1.5 million Americans filed new unemployment claims last week, bringing the total since midmarch to more than 44.2 million.
Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephenson@tennessean.com or at (731) 694-7261. Follow Cassandra on Twitter at @Cstephenson731.