Tennessee seeing 'unprecedented' spike in unemployment

Tennessee seeing 'unprecedented' spike in unemployment

Jobless numbers are up to 16- point-8 million nationwide after another 6-point-6 million americans filed for unemployment last week.

Some tennesseans are still waiting for their checks or even contact from the state about their unemployment claims. news 12's angela moryan tells us why the waiting periods are longer than normal.

Hairstylist holly mount filed for unemployment after her salon in north shore was forced to close.

Now, four weeks later, she's still waiting to hear any update about her claim -- and worrying she won't be able to pay her bills.

Holly mount: "it's just very stressful, and when can i go back to work?

And that's the thing with unemployment it's just like 'are you seeking jobs right now?'

And the answer is no becuase there's nowhere to work."

According to the tennessee department of labor, more than 250-thousand tennesseeans have claimed unemployment in the last three weeks alone.

Chris cannon: "it's an unprecedented spike in unemployment.

The state of tennessee and the nation has never seen unemployment like it is right now."

Phone lines are jammed.

Servers are overloaded.

One tennesseean i spoke with spent all day filling out the application because the system kept kicking her out.

And when people try to call to check their status -- this is what they hear.

Currently all of our agents are working with other customers, and we are not able to complete this call on hold.

Please call back at another time.

Thank you.

Mount: "i've been trying to call my car company.

It's just like when you call these companies, it's not that they're not cooperative.

I think it's just so many people are callling right now it's just hard."

Cannon: "we completely understand these benefits are a safety net for folks who are out of work due to no fault of their own and they need this money to make ends meat.

And we are working as quickly as possible to process as many claims as possible so we can get these benefits to tennesseeans."

Cannon says the state is currently reprogramming their systems to pay out the 600 dollars extra granted by the new stimulus law.

People can expect to see that money soon.

Reporting in chattanooga, angela moryan, news 12 now.

The state paid out over 30 million dollars to 100-thousand people last week alone.

Usually, just about 15- thousand people need unemployment -- totaling 4 million dollars.

A major stresser for tennesseans has been the inability to contact the state about their checks.

Officials say don't call!

Instead go to jobs-4-t-n-dot- gov and check your unemployment status there.

He says also don't forget to fill out your weekly certifications, even if you haven't been approved just yet.

Chris cannon: "go online and take a look at that because we're getting tens of thousands of phone calls into the department each day, and people calling 10, 20, 30 as much as 100 times is just increasing that call volume and making the problem even worse.

And we want to get to everybody as quickly as we can because we know everyone needs these benefits."

For how much you should be receiving and more on this story, visit our website, wdef- dot-com.