Unemployment woes… Tennessee sees new unemployment filings rise by 3,587 in one week
Published 3:00 pm Thursday, July 9, 2020
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development saw an increase of 3,587 in new filings for unemployment for the period ending on July 4, 2020, when a total of 25,843 claims were received by the office.
Those figures will be added to a total of 256,645 continued claims as Tennesseans continue to try to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that saw the claims start flowing in around March 21st of this year.
To date, there have been a total of 691,898 claims filed in Tennessee for unemployment benefits.
The report showed that there have been 275,421 claims paid out for the period and through the same time frame there has been a total of $260,779,300 dollars paid to the unemployed with those funds coming solely from the Coronavirus Relief Fund.
With the increasing number of positive tests of COVID-19 continuing to rise, these numbers could well escalate in the upcoming weeks as businesses are faced with tough decisions to survive through the continuing pandemic.
In Northeast Tennessee comprised of the counties of Johnson, Sullivan, Washington, Carter, Unicoi, and Greene, the report stated that there are still 12,741 continued unemployment claims that are being paid out.
Carter County has 1,166 of those claims while Sullivan County leads the six counties with a total of 4,476 continuing claims. Washington County has 3,901 claims.
Shelby County leads the state in continued claims with 53,703 claims while Davidson County has 45,647 to make up the bulk of the current continued claims being paid out by the state.
Businesses are continuing to reopen to full capacity but the recent climb in COVID-19 cases has forced some to take steps backward while others are being cautious in opening back to full operation hindering the hiring or rehiring of former employees.
From an industrial standpoint, many manufactures depend on others to which they supply their finished products and with supply and demand still being low, those businesses continue to struggle to bring back their employees as well.
