State officials are urging those who have just lost their jobs to file unemployment claims and call the state’s unemployment centers during the middle-to-latter part of the day to avoid delays.
Inquiries to Massachusetts’ four call centers are often being met with a busy signal, while appeals of certain claim denials are also being delayed — in some case for weeks — because case analysts have been transferred to the call centers to try to shorten the wait for those filing their initial claims.
Yet so far, Massachusetts has been able to avoid the computer meltdowns and other technological glitches that have affected other states, such as New York. State officials say that is a success, given that unemployment claims have nearly doubled to 200,000 from 107,000 at this time last year.
“We have reached capacity in our system but we have not crashed,” said Michael Taylor, director of workforce development.
The most recent statistics from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development showed the Massachusetts unemployment rate increased from 5.5 percent in October to 5.9 percent in November — its highest rate since August 2003.
Job losses for the month of November totaled 8,000.
The figures were almost certain to go up in December if they followed national trends.
The U.S. Labor Department reported last Friday the nation’s unemployment rate had risen to 7.2 percent in December, the highest level in 16 years. Employers slashed 524,000 jobs, capping one of the worst years in modern history for American workers.
For all of 2008, the economy lost a net total of 2.6 million jobs. That was the most since 1945, when nearly 2.8 million jobs were lost.
Joblessness has prompted calls to four state centers designated to receive them, usually from people filing their initial claim. They then call back or log-in each Sunday to renew their claim as they look for work.
The increased activity has prompted the personnel shifts to answer the phones. There are now 140 people answering phones, about double what there was in early October.
The state has expanded its call center hours by two hours each day and added Saturday hours to try to compensate.
“Most people call in the morning and can end up with a busy signal,” said Taylor. “We’re trying to educate people to call back later in the day so they can get served.”
(Associated Press)
