To date, 946,775 new unemployment claims have been filed in Tennessee since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. That number represents more than $36-million in unemployment payments being made to individuals, most of which came from federal dollars. In fact, the Tennessee Department of Labor reports that close to $30-million was paid by the federal government as opposed to the state.

Calculations for the most recent week between December 6th and December 12th confirm that 7,464 new unemployment filings were made throughout the Volunteer State. The week prior ended with 6,886 new unemployment filings.

Currently, 44,215 residents are receiving unemployment benefits in Tennessee. The month with the highest number of unemployment payments being made was in April. Between April 19th and April 25th, close to 325-thousand people received unemployment checks.

Rutherford County currently has 1,795 residents receiving unemployment benefits. One week prior (November 29 - December 5, 2020), there were 1,910 citizens receiving unemployment checks. Two weeks prior, 2,340 residents in Rutherford County were receiving unemployment benefits.

Bi-Weekly Unemployment Claim Numbers (TN):

• NOV 29 – Dec 12: 14,350 New Unemployment Claims in TN
• NOV 15 – NOV 28: 12,662 New Unemployment Claims in TN
• NOV 1 - NOV 14:  13,403 New Unemployment Claims in TN
• OCT 18 - OCT 31: 14,762 Ne1w Unemployment Claims in TN
• OCT 4 - OCT 17:   20,018 New Unemployment Claims in TN
• SEPT 20 - OCT 3:  19,614 New Unemployment Claims in TN
• SEPT 6 - SEPT 19:  22,084 New Unemployment Claims in TN