The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported on Thursday that over 112,000 Tennesseans filed unemployment claims this past week.
According to the state’s labor agency, a total of 112,438 new claims – a 19 percent increase over last week’s report of 94,492 filings – were sought by Tennesseans out of work.
Residents in the Northern Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee regions represent the areas with the highest number of claims with 72,365 of the 112,438 between them.
No one at the TDLWD returned The Tennessee Star’s repeated requests for comment Thursday.
TDLWD staff reported new claims in the following areas:
• Greater Memphis: 15,452
• Northwest Tennessee: 3,409
• Southwest Tennessee: 3,604
• Northern Middle Tennessee: 47,325
• Southern Middle Tennessee: 10,613
• Upper Cumberland: 4,892
• Southeast Tennessee: 13,578
• East Tennessee: 25,040
• Northeast Tennessee: 6,419
• West Tennessee Mobile American Job Center: 35
• Middle Tennessee Mobile American Job Center: 481
• East Tennessee Mobile American Job Center: 35
As The Tennessee Star reported, TDLWD officials said they are processing these claims as quickly as possible to determine eligibility and distribute benefit payments.
TDLWD has added additional resources to help process the influx of new claims, including training 200 Department employees to shift their job tasks to unemployment.
TDLWD spokesman Chris Cannon said the maximum weekly unemployment benefit in Tennessee is $275 before the deduction of federal taxes. Claimants receive this benefit through a debit card or direct deposit to a bank account, Cannon added.
As The Star also reported, U.S. Rep. Mark Green, (R-TN-07) said during a coronavirus Tele-Town Hall that he expects what he called “a hockey puck type recession.”
The $2 trillion federal stimulus bill Congress passed, Green went on to say, should “fuel massive growth.”
“You will see a massive dip in GDP in this quarter and then a massive increase,” Green said.
Green said the bill helps the self-employed and independent contractors and treats them the same as businesses. The Small Business Administration, Green went on to say, would help those people cover their expenses.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Long Lines” by Gabriel White. CC BY-SA 2.0.
OK, Governor Lee, you have done enough damage. Stop your insane order that closed down our world.
I realize that you probably used a file photo for this article, but my first thought was that nobody was wearing a mask or maintaining a six foot separation.