Unemployment dipped last month across Tennessee and remained stable in Georgia as the economy continued to show signs of recovery from the coronavirus shutdowns earlier this year.
But the region may not get back to the employment peak reached prior to the pandemic for several years as jobless claims in both states remained elevated in August from ongoing layoffs across most industries.
Unemployed Tennesseans who qualify for jobless benefits also took a hit last week with the expiration of supplemental benefits from the federal government, cutting the average benefit check by nearly $400 last week.
"We're seeing the economy improve from the dramatic downturn this spring and we've come part of the way back, but initial jobless claims remain historically high, even compared to the worst of the Great Recession (in 2008-2009)," said Dr. William Fox, director of the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee. "Despite the fact that the economy has opened back up and many more businesses are operating again, we're seeing a relatively slow recovery and it will certainly be a while before we get back to the employment peak we saw earlier this year."
Jobless in July
* Tennessee - 9.5% in July, down from 15.5% peak in April* Georgia - 7.6% in July, down from its 12.6% peak in April* U.S. average - 10.2% in July, down from its 14.7% peak in April.Last week, the state paid $83,931,078 to 249,90 claimantsSources: Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Georgia Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Unemployment fell by a tenth of a percentage point during July to 9.5% in Tennessee and remained at 7.6% in Georgia last month, according to jobs figures released Thursday. The jobless rates in both states were well below the national unemployment rate for July of 10.2 %, but both states also reported new jobless claims showing a slower recovery than in most of the country.
Unemployment in both Tennessee and Georgia also was more than twice as high as what it was a year ago.
In Tennessee, 13,806 Tennesseans who recently lost their jobs filed initial jobless claims last week, or 3,186 more than the previous week.
Nationwide, the government reported that the number of workers applying for unemployment last week climbed back over 1 million last week after two weeks of declines.
The figures suggest that employers are still slashing jobs even as some businesses reopen and some sectors like housing and manufacturing have rebounded.
"Getting the virus in check dictates when there'll be relief from this economic nightmare, and it doesn't look like it will be soon," said AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist at Indeed, a job listings website.
States recovering slowest
Based upon jobless claims, states that have recovered the least so far during the pandemic are:1. Florida2 Georgia3.Kansas4. New Mexico5. Louisiana6. Virginia7. Kentucky8. Alaska9. Tennessee10. NevadaSource: WalletHub. Based upon jobless claims compared with the previous week, the start of the pandemic and a year ago.
Unemployed persons are getting less government assistance this month after a temporary federal program that gave an extra $600 a week in jobless benefits ran out at the end of July. While Congress debates whether to extend the federal supplement, states are reverting back to paying only state jobless benefits, which is Tennessee top out at $275 a week - the fourth lowest among the 50 states.
Last week, Tennessee paid an average of $336.14 in jobless benefits to the typical unemployed person, including state benefits and final payments still being distributed from the federal supplement. In the previous week, the typical jobless claimant received $735.37 in state and federal benefits and two weeks ago the average claimant got weekly benefits of $932.85.
As Tennessee economy rebounds, employers across the state are hiring. Jobs4TN.gov currently posts more than 221,000 job listings.
In Georgia, state Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said jobs increased during July but the jobless rate held steady as the labor force grew.
"Although the unemployment rate remained steady in July, it is promising to see positive growth in critical indicators like employment and jobs," Butler said. "While we are still focused on helping Georgians who are unemployed due to the pandemic, at the same time we have started to pivot to help Georgia's businesses fill the tens of thousands of jobs as we continue to reopen and put Georgians back to work."
Jobs in Georgia were up by 43,800 over the month, but were still down 190,100 from a year ago.
There are currently 16.3 million Americans unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in total.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340