Tennessee weekly unemployment claims drop below 20,000

The number of new weekly unemployment claims in Tennessee has dipped below 20,000 for the first time since mid-March.

In the week ending June 13, 19,925 Tennesseans applied for unemployment benefits, according to state data released.

Since March 15, a total of 622,644 Tennesseans have filed new claims. Of these, 280,593 filed certifications to continue their claims last week.

The number of new claims has decreased slowly week over week since pandemic job losses and furloughs appeared to reach their peak in early April, with 116,141 new unemployment claims filed in a single week.

Typically, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development processes around 15,000 new claims in an average month.

In the week ending June 13, the department paid 300,324 claims using more than $291 million in federal coronavirus relief funds.

Source: Knoxville News Sentinel, by Cassandra Stephenson

The East Tennessee Economic Development Agency markets and recruits business for the 15 counties in the greater Knoxville-Oak Ridge region of East Tennessee. Visit www.eteda.org

Published June 25, 2020