Although new unemployment claims are down significantly compared to a few weeks ago, that doesn’t mean people are necessarily in better shape financially.
More than 37,000 Tennesseans filed for unemployment last week. But overall, more than 320,000 are unemployed and approved for government assistance — some for many weeks already.
Rebekah Hall, of Lebanon, has worked at private events in downtown Nashville for 30 years. She first filed for unemployment in mid-March and says she isn’t optimistic about that changing anytime soon. Her work serves large groups, including many out-of-town visitors.
“So even if all the restaurants in town were to open tomorrow, full service, bars, everything, private events are not going to still happen for quite a while,” she says. “A few months, maybe. Two or three months. I don’t know, possibly longer.”
These unemployment “continued claims,” like Hall’s, are those that have been approved and are being paid each week by the labor department. They are an indicator of how many people are staying unemployed.
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