COVID-19 Unemployment claims tied to the start of the Pandemic are continuing a downward trend in Tennessee.
The revised reporting of data shows a 28% drop in the number of initial claims first reported for the week ending July 10, 2021, as Tennessee transitioned away from federal pandemic unemployment programs.
The U.S. Department of Labor reemphasized reporting standards for states that moved away from administering federal pandemic unemployment benefits.
For the week ending July 10, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) reported 9,375 claimants applied for unemployment benefits. Under the reconciled data, the true number of claims for the week is 6,744. This data reflects the number of applications submitted by claimants who worked and earned wages before applying for benefits that week and were not previously receiving other benefits.
The federal government requires the number of initial claims to only reflect new and emerging spells of unemployment with initial claims that are filed to establish benefit periods following a period of employment, not transitional claims.
A transitional claim is the request to establish a successive benefit year dated immediately following a week for which benefits were claimed for the previous benefit year. Moving forward, TDLWD will report initial claims to USDOL without the transitional claim data.
Tennessee moved away from all federal pandemic unemployment programs the week ending July 3. Many of the applicants who submitted claims for the week ending July 10 had previously been on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs. These are transitional claims that are monetarily ineligible to receive benefits from the state’s Tennessee Unemployment Compensation (TUC) program.
The state is ready to help unemployed Tennesseans return to the workforce. They can find the resources available to find job leads, and further their education and training, as well as programs that can remove barriers to employment, at www.TNWorkReady.com.
The state is ready to help unemployed Tennesseans return to the workforce. They can find the resources available to find job leads, further their education, and training, as well as programs that can remove barriers to employment at www.TNWorkReady.com.
