Millions of Americans may lose unemployment benefits in the next few weeks.

Unless Congress acts soon, millions of unemployed Americans will lose benefits by the end of the year. A federal program that pays benefits to self-employed, freelancers, contractors, and gig workers is also set to stop after December. Nationwide there are over 13 million people in that program. In addition, there are roughly 10 million more whose unemployment benefits will also be coming to an end soon.  (story here)  While those are facing approaching deadlines, the rest of the nation is still uneasy as coronavirus cases continue to skyrocket and the future of the job market is delicate. 

West Tennessee is still feeling the effects of the past year, as the state reports the hotel industry is down nearly 50%, and the restaurant and bar industry is struggling to survive. When you take a look around the Jackson area, and realize how many businesses fit into those two categories alone...it's easy to understand why so many are affected.   

Even those who do qualify for unemployment in Tennessee are finding a one to two month delay is not unusual. In a recent news story (here) spokesman Chris Cannon said, "the state has received nearly 1 million claims...that's more than a decade worth of unemployment in the last seven and a half months."

All of the experts agree that with colder weather comes an increase in coronavirus cases. Combine that with many Tennesseans likely losing their government benefits in the coming weeks or having to wait months for them to process...and the start of 2021 looks dismal. 
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