Unemployment in Tennessee and Georgia declined last month from the record highs reached in April, but more than 300,000 Tennesseans and 678,00 Georgians continued to receive jobless benefits last week due to layoffs from the coronavirus pandemic.
The jobless rate in Tennessee fell during May to 11.3%, down 4.2 percentage points from the record high 15.5% unemployment level reached in April when much of the economy was shut down to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
In Georgia, unemployment declined from the record high 12.6% in April to 9.7% last month even though Georgia has had the biggest jump in jobless claims of any state.
Both states reported unemployment last month below the U.S. rate of 13.3%.
“Although the unemployment rate remains at historically high levels, it is encouraging to see such a big drop in the jobless rate in May as the economy reopens and more people go back to work,” said Dr. Bill Fox, director of the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee. “The economy is certainly weaker that it was at the start of the year and many businesses will likely take this period to cut costs and unprofitable operations. But we are seeing signs of improvement.”