LOCAL

Unemployment claims in Tennessee reach 550,000 since start of pandemic

More than 550,000 Tennesseans have filed for unemployment since mid-March, though the state's number of new weekly claims continues to slowly decline.

In the week ending May 23, 26,041 Tennesseans filed new unemployment claims, the lowest number of new claims since the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold in late March.

Since March 15, an unprecedented 558,621 Tennesseans have filed for unemployment. Of those, 310,126 have continued to file weekly certifications for their claims, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Nationally, more than 40 million people filed new unemployment claims since March, including another 2.1 million last week.

What the state is doing:TN unemployment surges, but thousands haven't received benefits

In April, Tennessee's unemployment rate skyrocketed to a historic 14.7%, matching April's unemployment rate for the United States as a whole, state officials announced March 21. The rate surpasses Tennessee's previous record high of 12.9% in December 1982 and January 1983. The state's May unemployment rate will be released in late June.

The number of new claims in a single week has steadily declined since it reached its apparent peak of 116,141 claims in early April. This is still a far cry from Tennessee's average of 15,000 new claims per month.

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development has struggled to keep up with the historic flood of new claims, hiring and training dozens of new staff as thousands of Tennesseans waited to receive their benefits, some as long as nine weeks.

Last week, the department paid 333,063 claims, amounting to more than $375 million in federal funds.

Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephenson@tennessean.com or at (731) 694-7261. Follow Cassandra on Twitter at @CStephenson731.