New Tennessee Unemployment Claims Continue To Decrease

with additional reporting from The Associated Press

NASHVILLE, TN (WDEF) – The latest unemployment claims for the week of May 16 in Tennessee saw another increase with 28,692 new filings bringing the total number of claims since March 15 to 532,580. This is according to the latest report from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce. This is fewer than the 29,308 claims from the previous week. It marks the sixth straight week that new claims were less than the previous week since the high of 116,141 the week of April 4.

The Southeast Tennessee Local Workforce Development Area saw 2,469 new claims. Northern Middle Tennessee continues to be the hardest hit area of the state with another 7,768 new claims.

More than 2.4 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week in the latest wave of layoffs from the viral outbreak that triggered widespread business shutdowns two months ago and sent the economy into a deep recession. Roughly 38.6 million people have now filed for jobless aid since the coronavirus forced millions of businesses to close their doors and shrink their workforces, the Labor Department said Thursday. Another 2.2 million people sought aid under a new federal program for self-employed, contractor and gig workers, who are now eligible for jobless aid for the first time.

Statewide Data:
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