The New York State Department of Labor fielded nearly 4 million calls and website hits last week as it reports up to 1,000-percent increase in unemployment claims in some parts of the state, an agency official said today.
“From Monday, March 16th to Saturday, March 21st, there were over 1,734,100 total calls and 2, 270,300 web hits,” said Deanna Cohen, deputy director of communications. “On Friday alone, we received more than 475,000 calls.”
Cohen said the department is addressing this situation in several ways, including increasing bandwidth, extending phone hours and assigning more than 700 staff members to handle the influx.
“This week, we also implemented a new, more efficient filing system based on the first letter of the applicant's last name (alphabetical order),” she said, with A-F on Monday, G-N on Tuesday, and O-Z on Wednesday.
Those who missed their day are able to call on Thursday or Friday.
“Our dedicated staff is doing their best to serve everyone as quickly as possible,” she said. “It is important to stress that everyone will get their benefits.”
