Since March 15th, which was when the COVID-19 Pandemic started hitting businesses and households, Tennessee has seen 503,888 new unemployment claims.

On March 14, 2020, Tennessee had 2,702 new claims for unemployment. The numbers increased greatly the following week of March 21st.

The highest number of jobless claims came in on the week of April 4, 2020 with 116,141 new unemployment claims.

Tennessee reports that payments coming from our state government and going to the unemployed added up to $66 million thus far. The federal government chipped in $228 million for those who filed unemployment in Tennessee, as of May 9, 2020. Combined, that adds up to almost $300 million in unemployment payments sent to just over 307 thousand residents last week. Payments to each resident added up to an average of $958 last week.

Despite the high number of unemployment claims being filed, the Tennessee operated "JOBS4TN.gov" website shows the unemployment rate today stands at 3.5%. To reach such a number, continued surveys are conducted to count the unemployed. Those who are counted as unemployed are the ones who are without a job and have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks and who are currently looking for employment. In other words, those who have filed for unemployment during the COVID crisis are more than likely not counted as unemployed during current surveys.

The TN Department of Labor and Workforce Development reports, "Historically, the largest jump in new jobless claims was set in 1982 with a record of 695,000 new claims." Today, Tennessee is closing in on that number with 503,888 NEW unemployment claims.