Dept. of Labor continues to receive record calls
Phone lines backed up
/ FOX21
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Record claims for unemployment means frequent busy tones for Coloradans calling the State Department of Labor.
FOX21 News has new details on why thousands of Coloradans have had trouble filing for unemployment during the last two weeks.
About 23,000 people collect unemployment benefits in El Paso County alone.
Since at least January the Department of Labor has been struggling to keep up with the calls regarding unemployment.
Almost two weeks ago, FOX21 News told viewers the number of calls the department was receiving grew considerably thanks to an Internet problem with the Department of Labor.
"The slowdown was so pronounced that it took several minutes to get each screen loaded and as a result many people had to give up," said Bill Thoennes, with the Department of Labor and Employment.
"Busy," said Lindsay Cooley.
The backlog had people like Cooley wondering if they'd be left in the dark.
"I don't know what I'm going to do this week. I got an electric bill sitting over there. They want their money or they're going to shut off my power," Cooley said.
Cooley has since filed for unemployment, but FOX21 News continues to receive calls about this busy signal on the Department of Labor's phone line.
FOX21 News Reporter Danielle Leigh called the department's general line and got an answer on her fourth try.
"One thing is to just keep trying. We understand the frustration they're feeling," Thoennes said.
The dilemma has been ongoing since January. There are not enough representatives to answer the calls which range in number from 900 to 3,000 a day.
"Sometimes it seems like an exaggeration to say it is unprecedented in Colorado history and yet it really is," said Thoennes.
The Department of Labor's Web site is up and running again so the public can return to filing claims online.
The phone lines will likely continue to be backed up because the state doesn't have the money to hire more representatives to answer calls.
Click on the movie camera to view the story as it aired on FOX21 News.
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