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One year into the pandemic, 50,000 Tennesseans a week still getting unemployment checks

fred.stlouisfed.org

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Tens-of-thousands of Tennesseans are still getting unemployment checks one year after the pandemic began forcing layoffs and furloughs.

State labor officials say nearly 55,000 state residents received jobless benefits this past week. Another 10,000 filed first time claims for unemployment aid during the week that ended Saturday.

That’s roughly two to three times higher than average weekly claims before the pandemic began.

The number of Tennesseans receiving benefits has hovered around 50,000 claims per week for the past four months.

Officials say $11 million in jobless compensaiton was paid out to state residents this past week alone. The federal government chipped in an additional $72 million in unemployment aid for Tennesseans last week.

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