Kiss says, based on comments posted to the page, the DOL is feeling the surge.
“I think the computer system itself is completely overwhelmed,” said Kiss.
Over the past year, the DOL has needed to ramp up its decades old system to meet the unprecedented demand.
“We’ve actually had 1.4 million applications coming into the system since last March,” said Deputy Labor Commissioner Dante Bartolomeo. The state Department of Labor reports it has now received more than one million applications for unemployment benefits since mid-March.
Bartolomeo explained that 1.4 million represents what the DOL would typically see in about 10 years.
The DOL says the weekly filer count peaked last May with about 400,000 per week. It is now down to about 200,000. This is still, about five times the volume it was pre-pandemic.