Updates and Information on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Tennessee Economic and Fiscal Indicators

The Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research is working with the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration to produce a series of data that shows the effects of COVID-19 on Tennessee’s economy. These data are released on a monthly basis, with the exception of initial unemployment insurance (UI) claims; these data are released weekly.

Unemployment Claims, 2006 through May 2020

Last updated 5/28/20

UI Claims 2006 through April 2020

  • Pressure on the Unemployment Insurance system has grown very fast. Tennessee has seen 543,412 initial claims in 10 weeks.

  • UI claims, are still extraordinarily high. The week of 5/23 saw a decline in initial claims over the previous week. Last week’s claims are much lower than the peak, which was about 112,000 claims.

Distribution of Initial UI Claims: 5/23/2020

Last updated 5/28/20

UI Claims April 18

  • Initial Claims for 5/23 were distributed relatively evenly between Leisure and Hospitality, Professional & Business Services, Retail and several others.

  • Leisure and Hospitality represented nearly one-half of claims during the week of 3/21 and the share has been much smaller every week since.

Tennessee Unemployment Claims in 2020

Last updated 5/28/20

UI Claims April 18

  • Initial claims are declining from their historic peak, and continued claims are continuing to decline slowly.

  • Continued claims are a better indicator of the number of individuals drawing from the trust fund.

Total UI Claims since 3/21 and Percent of Workforce Filing Claims, Week Ending 5/23/2020

Last updated 5/28/20

Percent of Workforce Filing Claims April 18

  • Claims remain lowest among more rural, northern parts of Tennessee, but are becoming more even across the rest of the State.

Percent Change in New UI Claims since 5/16/2020, Week Ending 5/23/2020

Last updated 5/28/20

Percent Change in New UI Claims April 18

  • Initial claims fell across all regions of Tennessee, except for Upper Cumberland, but the rate of decline varied widely during the past week.

U.S. & Tennessee Unemployment Rate

Last updated 5/21/20

Note: U.S. data for April released on May 8. Tennessee data for April released May 21.

Percent Change in New UI Claims April 18

  • Tennessee had a 14.7% unemployment rate in April 2020, the same as the U.S. for the month of April.

  • The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 14.7% in April, the highest of any month since the Great Depression and the largest monthly increase ever.

U.S. & Tennessee Total Nonfarm Employment Growth

Last updated 5/21/20

Note: U.S. data for April released on May 8. Tennessee data for April released May 21.

Percent Change in New UI Claims April 18

  • Total Non-farm April employment in Tennessee is down 11.0% compared to last year. Tennessee saw a decline across all super sectors but some individual industries saw increases.

  • The U.S. saw a 12.9% decline in Non-farm employment. Leisure & Hospitality saw the greatest decline in employment, falling by 47.2%. Employment fell by more than 10% in Other Services, Retail Trade, Mining, Logging, & Construction, and Manufacturing. 

UI Claims Data, by Week

Download the Report (Last Update 5/28/20)

Released Monthly: Unemployment, Employment Growth, & Local Sales Tax Revenue

May 2020 Report

April 2020 Report

Note: Employment and sales tax revenue data are released monthly for the month prior, so April's report shows March data. The data are collected mid-month, so in this case the March data will not reflect the effects of COVID-19. That effect will be visible in April's monthly data when it is released in May.