Fewer Tennesseans are filing brand new unemployment claims versus the number who filed last week, but the number of state residents with continued claims has gone up slightly.
This, according to new numbers the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) released Thursday.
According to those numbers, 29,308 Tennesseans filed new unemployment claims for the week of May 9. One week earlier, May 2, state residents filed 37,319 new claims.
Meanwhile, for the week of May 9 Tennessee recorded 325,095 continued unemployment claims. One week prior state officials recorded a smaller number, 321,571 claims.
Tennessee residents have filed 503,888 claims since March 15, around the same time the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the United States.
For the week of May 9 Tennesseans in each region of the state filed the following number of unemployment claims, per the TDLWD:
• Greater Memphis: 6,634
• Northwest Tennessee: 736
• Southwest Tennessee: 999
• Northern Middle Tennessee: 8,694
• Southern Middle Tennessee: 1,567
• Upper Cumberland: 681
• Southeast Tennessee: 2,688
• East Tennessee: 4,025
• Northeast Tennessee: 1,101
• West Tennessee Mobile American Job Center: 17
• Middle Tennessee Mobile American Job Center: 78
• East Tennessee Mobile America Job Center: 4
As The Tennessee Star reported last month, residents in Northern Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee have likely filed high numbers of claims because of their respective hospitality industries.
If tourists may not travel to those areas then, of course, Tennessee’s hospitality industry cannot thrive.
“There is no way to know for certain why these areas of Tennessee have seen more unemployment than others. But, Nashville sits in the Northern Middle Tennessee region and the Smoky Mountains are part of the East Tennessee region,” TDLWD spokesman Chris Cannon told The Star last month.
“These locations are home to a majority of the state’s hospitality industry. This industry has been one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 health emergency in our state.”
Also, as reported, TDLWD officials did not see an unprecedented increase in unemployment claims until the third and fourth weeks of March. The statewide unemployment rate for April 2020 will come out on May 21, 2020, at 1:30 p.m. Central Time, TDLWD officials said.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Thank God!. I will not vote for governor Lee for a second term. The mayor of Nashville needs to go as well. I have been a nurse for over 22 years and have never seen anything like this in my life. Land of the free? Home of the brave? My ass!. Keep your hands washed and get back to work. I know I will be at the hospital.