Unemployment declines in May

Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate for May 2020 dropped by 4.2 percentage points from the record high set in April, according to data released by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

In May, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate decreased to 11.3 percent.

Additional data changed Tennessee’s preliminary rate for April from 14.7 percent to 15.5 percent, which is now the state’s highest unemployment rate on record.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Tennessee’s economy, the state’s previous record-setting unemployment rate was 12.9 percent in January 1983.

Tennessee...