MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee reached its highest monthly unemployment rate ever in April as the state managed public safety concerns raised by the new coronavirus outbreak by closing nonessential businesses, a move that has led to more than a half-million jobless claims.
The Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development reported Thursday that the preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April was 14.7%. That represents an “unprecedented spike” of 11.4 percentage points when compared to March’s revised rate of 3.3%, the department said in a news release.
Orders from Gov. Bill Lee and city and county officials led to closings of businesses throughout Tennessee as part of the mass response to the new coronavirus outbreak. Since March 15, the number of people who have lost their jobs and have been seeking or receiving payouts from the federal and state government in Tennessee has totaled more than 532,000, the department said.
The state’s highest seasonally adjusted rate had been 12.9%, which occurred in December 1982 and January 1983, the department said.
Total nonfarm employment in Tennessee decreased by 376,900 jobs between March and April. The largest reductions occurred in the leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and professional and business services sectors, labor officials said.
More than 28,600 jobless Tennessee residents filed new claims for unemployment benefits during the week that ended Saturday. More than $355 million in unemployment benefits was paid out last week, with more than $295 million of that total coming in the form of federal funds distributed under the federal CARES Act, the emergency assistance package created to deal with financial effects from the virus response.
The rest of the money came from a trust fund used by the state to pay unemployment benefits, the labor department said. New claims filed last week dipped slightly from the week before, when more than 29,300 were filed.
