Jobless system fried, page 1

Jobless system fried

ww w.dispatchpolitics.com

In the past week, the state call center has been receiving about 80,000 calls a day, up from 7,500 on average last month, said Dennis Evans, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which oversees unemployment benefits.

"It's the volume of calls, it's the economy, it's the extended benefits -- all are increasing caseloads," he said.

The endless busy signals and computer-error messages have left many out-of-work Ohioans, already stressed by mounting bills and fruitless job searches, on the verge of snapping.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.forbes.com
www.wzzm13.com
www.bizjournals.com
www.courier-journal.com

This morning, ADP released its monthly payroll report with a stunning number for December: 693,000 jobs lost (see Forbes link). In reading the above story from the Columbus, OH newspaper, one can see the state has seen an increase the first week of 2009 of over 10 times the average call volume compared to December.

Ohio's online- and phone-based system for unemployment filing have both been overwhelmed this week to the point that the website crashed.

There are reports from other states, including PA, NY, MA, NC, MI, KY, NM and more of phone lines being jammed and state websites crashing due to overload.

All I can say after today's astounding jobless news is to hold on to your butts. This month is already shaping up to be a nightmare.

ww w.dispatchpolitics.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by pureevil81

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Yikes. OR has been faring better than most states so far...that's a scary bit of info.

I can attest to PA. A friend of mine was laid off last month. She's an older lady and doesn't own a computer, let alone know how to use one. She tried filing for unemployment by phone for a week straight and got nothing but busy signals from open to close. She finally called me in tears, not knowing what to do. We wound up filing her claim on my computer, which still took over an hour because the state website repeatedly timed out. It's normally a 10 minute procedure tops to put your claim in online.

reply to post by anachryon

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I'm on unemployment in Florida and let me tell you how it is here. In October my benefits were suspended for working five to seven hours a week at a temporary job. According to the state's site, benefits continue but they just deduct anything over $50 from the amount (I was making about $45 a week). No, if you report in compliance with federal law to avoid a federal record, you lose the benefits. Since the work was for a church, the unemployment board reinstated by claim. I was not paid for nearly eight weeks. The state worker actually told me in a phone call that was taped by her employer that I should have just taken the money and not said anything, more than once! No, I am not kidding!
Fast forward, in November I faxed back a manadatory form listing all the jobs I had applied for in the two-month period. That was several hundred, which they are required to pesonally verify on the phone or in writing. I have not been paid in a month, am facing repossession of my car and have been reported to credit bureaus by all of my credit card agencies. If I get a job out of town Friday (which I now can't afford to commute or move to) I will not be able to turn on utilities due to to those references now.
After 10 days (no joke) I finally was patched on Monday through to a state agent by calling an internal line which is not for public calls. Turns out, my form is probably lost forever and they can not pay any money until it is found and verified, which she said may take several weeks. She was nice enough to put a personal email through to the state board director herself meaning they may be able to start looking for it by Friday, with no promises.
The real problem? The state did not pace how many forms they sent out and now has tens of thousands (probably more) backed up with no way to catch up according to what she told me. Two weeks ago the state also closed several unemployment/Work Force bureaus across the state, depleting the ranks even more. Guys, I hate to say it but the unemployment system is about to crash so I hope some of you have a parachute, there is no way some states will be able to keep paying those claims and Floida is one of them. Gut instinct tells me this scenario is a stalling tactic to stagger payments, mine have have been clearing later and later when I am paid, sometimes a week after I file. It's supposed to be 24-48 hours.

Texas Jobless rate

The Texas jobless rate has gone up as well.

Originally posted by secretagent woooman
Guys, I hate to say it but the unemployment system is about to crash so I hope some of you have a parachute, there is no way some states will be able to keep paying those claims and Floida is one of them.

Good lord!! I'm incredibly sorry to hear about what you're going through - what a cluster!

I think you're right about the UE system crashing. Put the pieces together...your story combined with:
SC nearly ran out of money and only has enough through March 09 after receiving an emergency Federal loan.
30 states at risk of depleting unemployment funds as of 12/15 - many had less than 4 months' worth at the time the article was published. Indiana and Michigan have already run out.
Missouri needs a loan
CT is raising business taxes to pay for their diminishing unemployment funds
Wisconsin will run out of money by February

It goes on and on and on.

Ohio's unemployment fund is out of money.

Columbus Dispatch

The state's unemployment-compensation fund is expected to spit out its last few dollars today or Monday, triggering a federal bailout to ensure that weekly benefits to jobless Ohioans continue.

Skyrocketing job losses and years of collecting less in unemployment taxes than the fund paid out in benefits are to blame, state officials said.

"There are just a crushing number of claims," said Bob Welsh, deputy director of Ohio's unemployment-compensation system.

The state paid claims to 248,000 jobless workers in the last week of December, a 63 percent increase from the same week a year earlier.

Ohio officially ran out of unemployment funds today.

Yahoo

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio's unemployment compensation fund has been depleted, forcing the state to begin borrowing federal funds.

Officials say no disruptions in benefits are expected.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Monday the federal government has already approved $500 million to be borrowed by Ohio to pay benefits in January and February. The state has requested that it be able to use $50 million of that amount to pay benefits this week.

Add California to the list. They're also running out of funds, joining other states including Ohio, South Carolina, Michigan, and others; states that run out of unemployment funds get federal loans to cover the checks.

UPI

At the same time as the state's unemployment insurance fund is running low, California's unemployment rate is approaching a 15-year high, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. The jobless rate hit 8.4 percent in November, up from 8.2 percent in October.

Millions of telephone calls to unemployment insurance processing centers are not being answered and the operation's computer system is 30 years old. Similar problems are occurring in at least 10 other states.

....

California's unemployment insurance fund is paying out $30 million to $34 million per day in jobless benefits. Its balance went from about $500 million to $270 million during the week of Jan. 5, the newspaper said.

California is likely to need a federal loan to keep the system going.

South Carolina is about to run out of funds again, after receiving a Federal loan in December.
MSNBC

"We need that information now. We need to have it in the next two weeks. If not, we will replace the commissioners," Sanford said Thursday.

His threat came after commission Executive Director Ted Halley said money to pay unemployment checks would run out as soon as Friday. Halley said the state needs $169 million to cover payments in January, February and March.

There's some ugly political sniping going on as well. Payments through January are apparently going to be okay, but the Governor is putting conditions on funds to cover unemployment checks for February onward.

Not a real good situation...

I am in KY, and it was on our local news here that our unemployment system was crashed. It got back up, because two days later I filed for my unemployment online. It took several hours(good thing I was not working; filing for UEI is a full time job nowadays!!) however, when I called in my claim. It was continuous hit flash/redial until my call went through.

www.wave3.com...

"The Kentucky Office of Employment and Training in Frankfort is facing a harsh reality. Comparing November 2007 and November 2008, the number of claims filed for unemployment benefits grew from just under 24,000 in '07 to more than 40,000 in '08. With so many Kentuckians filing for benefits to make ends meet, the office's systems were overwhelmed. "

""We've enhanced the capabilities of our website and our automated phone system to handle the high volume of traffic that we are seeing on both systems," she says.

That includes adding two more servers to handle claims on-line, doubling its capacity.

"So that means that originally we were able to handle about 1,600 users at the same time and by tomorrow, we'll be able to serve 3,200 users at the same time," Brannock says.

Nearly 100 more phone lines have also been added to allow for more callers at a time. "

At least KY is trying to be proavtive....

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