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Last Updated on Friday, 9 January 2009 01:30 Written by rslcpol Friday, 9 January 2009 01:03
From Stateline.org:
As the number of jobless workers rockets to unprecedented levels, state unemployment agencies are struggling to meet demand — and in some cases, their phone and computer systems are collapsing under the pressure.
In December alone, 524,000 more Americans lost their jobs, bringing the 2008 total to 2.6 million and the unemployment rate from 6.8 percent to 7.2 percent, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. That increase, combined with a normal uptick in first-time applications right after the holidays, wreaked havoc last week with the state agencies that hand out checks.