New unemployment claims in Tennessee last week reached their lowest point since COVID-19 hit the state, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The department said 11,690 Tennesseans filed new unemployment claims during the week ending Aug. 1, down from 25,794 new claims in mid-July – a 55 percent drop over two weeks.
Initial unemployment claims peaked in April, with more than 303,000 new claims filed that month. The number of new claims has declined significantly since, but between 19,000 and 25,000 new claims were filed each week in June and July.
The department currently is managing more than 224,000 continuing claims.
The additional $600 weekly federal unemployment benefits expired last week, and Congress continues to debate the next round of pandemic relief.
Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Jeff McCord said Tuesday the state does not have any insight into what kind of unemployment assistance will be included in a new federal relief bill.
“We are in constant communication with our federal partners, and we’re trying to understand what it will be. We quite frankly don’t know what that is yet,” McCord said. “We’re waiting to see just like everyone else is.”
McCord said the department is preparing to implement whatever new relief is included in the federal bill.
More than 771,000 Tennesseans have filed unemployment claims with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development since March 15, and the department has distributed nearly $235 million in unemployment payments over that time.
