NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — More than 6,000 new unemployment claims were filed in Tennessee last week, the lowest number in nearly six months, according to data released Thursday morning by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce.

The department reported the number of new claims for the week ending May 22 was 6,006, a decrease of about 1,400 from the previous week when 7,405 new claims were filed. The number remains up from the week ending March 14, 2020, when approximately 2,702 new claims were made.

The last time the number of new unemployment claims was in the 6,000 range was Dec. 5, when 6,886 new claims were filed. The week prior to that, 5,789 new claims were made in Tennessee.

The number of continued unemployment claims in Tennessee was 50,443 for the week ending May 22, a slight decrease from the previous week, when there were 50,901 continued claims.

A total of 1,181,841 new unemployment claims have been filed in Tennessee since March 14, 2020.