Kentucky: Overloaded phones bring long lines to state unemployment offices
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - The unemployment lines continue to stretch in Kentucky with people calling WAVE 3 to talk about it. So many people needed help it jammed the state's 400 phone lines and overloaded the website. WAVE 3's Shayla Reaves tells us where they ended up going for help.
No matter what time they arrived just about everybody expected a wait at the unemployment office Monday morning. So many people tried to call or go online for unemployment help that the State's system overloaded. The problem started Sunday and spilled out to branches across the Bluegrass Monday.
"Actually I was supposed to go back to work this week, but I couldn't go to work today because I had to come down here and take care of this," said Kayla Carter.
Louisiana: Unemployment call lines hard to get through
LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) -It's bad enough getting laid off during these hard economic times. But then, what if you have difficulties getting the help you need when you're trying to get unemployment benefits.
Safety supervisors help oversee those big maintenance overhauls known as turn arounds at refineries. That's what Pat Keller does, but she's been unemployed for about nine months now. "Due to cutbacks across the United States I have become unemployed for an extended length of time."
Pat says she received unemployment benefits and then became entitled to emergency benefits. But before she makes a claim she says she needs to speak to someone at the Louisiana Workforce Commission. She says she's been trying since before Christmas. "Today for instance, I started at 8:47 this morning. I've called seven times and I get a recording. When I get to the right menu I need and the right office I guess, it says we have too many calls, we can't handle you right now and the call is ended."
Mich. to add unemployment call center, more staff
Michigan plans to beef up its overwhelmed unemployment system with a new call center and hundreds of new workers to take and process calls.
Although the current system is helping 12,000 jobless a day with claims, the phone system has been getting 1 million attempted calls a day, unemployment officials said. Workers who have turned instead to an unemployment Web site often have found it slowed by heavy volume.
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The same thing is happening in Washington state. I have been back to work for 3 weeks. I am still owed unemployment compensation for the two weeks previous to that, but I have been consistantly unable to get through. As a result, my open claim was closed, and now I have to try to get through to a real person in order to reopen the claim. I really suspect that this only partially has to do with heavy volume. Scary.
ReplyDeleteSame as VA!!
ReplyDeleteCalled for 2 weeks straight, and never got through. Then, when I finally did, the gal told me they had just laid off half of THEIR STAFF!!
This in the midst of massive layoffs, and Bank CEOs are using the TARP for bonuses!!
This is really sick!
hahahah i just used my tarp money to buy another boat, hope you're eating chicken broth for meals, good luck getting a job, better get in line and wait for a handout from obama, maybe he'll hire you to dig some holes, god knows we need that.
ReplyDeletehey maybe you guys should have done a little better in highschool, maybe your life wouldn't consist of greyhound bus stations and rebottling and selling kentucky tap water...
ReplyDeleteAnother boat? That's awesome! I hope it comes with 24k gold trim on the sides, bucket seats and is appropriately named 'The A$$-Hole'.
ReplyDeleteAnd while you're on it, try throwing it in reverse, and jumping out the back. Be sure to invite you're associate scumbags to join you.
Oh, and don't forget to knock on wood.
The STATE nor the Federal Government, is not obligated to anyone. Even the SS accounts can be shut down at anytime and your 401k's are looking to subjected to being confiscated.
ReplyDeleteflorida is the same, just sent $20 and said they were broke
ReplyDeletecash 401s and everything, if you don't they will confiscate it as spread the wealth........
Jeez, if it gets any worse, I may have to put the place in Aspen or the one in Napa for sale. Then I will only have 4 homes left. I sure BHO get's moving on some new funds for my bank.
ReplyDeleteWAKE UP AMERICA - this is what we get from excusing those who build their lives from the shattered dreams of other human beings. It's about time we cared about our fellowman and do something. www.zeitgeist.com
ReplyDeleteI do not understand how things like this do not create a revolution. In other countries, issues less serious than this causes citizens to protest and....riot. Our founding fathers would be sickened to know that we have become a country of pussies.
ReplyDeleteHow much more are you willing to take? Does it have to get so dire where you cannot eat, heck many people are already there now!
I do not know where this goes from here. I think there is serious trouble ahead, worse than the great depression. At least then even hoodlums were still well dressed gentleman in a strange way. In todays world the US has a huge population of gang bangin thugs that will not hesitate to let a few bullets fly.
For those of you who saw cities like Miami in the 80's, before the fake real estate boom made everyone investors. It was like being in a third world country, except the criminals are better armed here! This loss of wealth will mushroom and make those once bad areas look like a church picnic once the real poverty sinks in.
You better start thinking of how you are going to protect yourself and your family.
Stay safe...
Here is a url to go to on CNN.
ReplyDeletehttp://money.cnn.com/2009/01/14/real_estate/appraisal_reform/index.htm?postversion=2009011405
The banks were forcing appraisers to inflate the prices on all those mortgages to make themselves more profits. Sad fact is that only physically violent criminals are imprisoned; those who do financial violence ruin lives too. The only difference is they don't ever face justice.
I'm posting this comment to say that our Country is in much worse shape than anyone might think, that is outside of the political arena. I f you believe that the unemployment rate is actually 7.2% you should know that in reality it is rapidly approaching 12% and going higher. Building roads and bridges won't help.
ReplyDeleteMr. Obama has already stated that the program will higher minorities (blacks) so if you are a white umemployed male construction worker keep looking for a job. You are not in the minority. And if you voted for Obama you get what you deserve.
To all of the people who actually think that Obama, Reed and Palousi will change things you are sadly mistaken. Your hope will turn to dispare and then to depression. They will sink this country.
So I will say now thatin four years, 2012 when Mr. Obama asks you, are you better off now than you were four years ago your answere will be NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Trust me on this.
Are you happy that he will be sending billions of our dollars around the world to promote abortion in other countries. Well this is who you hired to manage our country. Are you happy that you hired a man who actually believes a child is a mistake. Because of the peole who believed his campaign speaches you are now to blame for what happens to htis country in the next 1-2-3-4 years. Good luck to those of you who voted for him.
Mr. Obama is going to spend us into a deep inflationary period and you will now see things go from worse to devistation. But first we will need to go through a much deeper recession. Watch all of those store closings. More unemployment. He will heal nothing.
He has no experience to do the job!
Michele Obama commented tht her husband would heal the country but in reality all of those who believe that statement are blinded and lost.
My experience comes from working in the financial industry and seeing first hand what is about to happen.
Are you prepared?
Anon,
ReplyDeleteDude you can't spell for shi_. As for Obama I was so sickened by my choices this election I refused to vote, both were absolutely worthless.
Sequoia.
Got gold?
ReplyDeleteDear Democrats--all you want to do is take my money and redistribute it to blacks, mexicans, illegal immigrants and other people who can't read. you think that policy creates incentives for people to work, save and invest. good luck.
ReplyDeletelet't look at this stimulus package. one of the democrate leaders today suggested the stimulus package will be 40% tax cuts. hmmm...let's look at those tax cuts. it turns out a large portion of those tax cuts are of the expanded earned income tax credit variety. so we're going to increase the amount of refundable tax credits to people who already don't pay any income tax (e.g., single black mothers with a job and 4 kids by three different fathers) so that we can incent them to make terrible decisions. very stimulative, i can see the middle class celebrating that move now. now let's examine another part of the tax cuts--increasing the net operating loss carryback for banks and other financial institutions from 2 to 5 years, so that these companies can claw back some of the taxes they paid in 2004 and 2005. Isn't this the same thing as TARP, that is, if preferred are converted to common? even if the preferreds are converted this plan closely resembles TARP. let's look at another part of the plan--federal aid to states to pay for medicaid. hmm...this seems very stimulative indeed...paying for the health care for low-income people who can't read and did poorly in highschool who don't pay any taxes. all this measure does (i.e., federal aid to states) is bailout the state gov'ts mismanagement of their budgets and forestall property tax increases. it's incomprehensible how cutting spending is always the last option considered. CUT SPENDING!!! providing money to states to bailout their widening budget gaps is the height of absurdity. states need to bring their spending in line with the wherewithal of their tax base.
Good golly, why does a discussion of the state of the economy more often than not end in a left-right blame game??? How does that help anything? Is the US too big to fail? Yes, but it's probably too big and too broken to fix. And, hello job losses don't know political boundaries, so if a bunch of people aren't getting their unemployment benefits the issue discussed here doesn't have anything to do with being a democrat or republican. I personally feel that they are just two different flavors of koolaid, and both flavors are equally artificial.
ReplyDeletei'm moving to switzerland, i'm tried of you socialist democrats. you all believe that everyone is entitled to EQUAL OUTCOMES regardless of your contribution to society. all i care about are equal opportunities. you dems can have you centrally planned command economy where you think social security, medicare/medicaid, schip are birth rights. get a job.
ReplyDeletei'm a republican and i have my job and will get a promotion in less than 3 weeks while you dems can continue to whine about being entitled to a job, unemployment benefits, entitltled to a great life at the expense of others without having to work for it, good for you
ReplyDeletesend your keys into the bank and flood the basement, you can't afford that house, start eating chicken broth and oats with kentucky tap water, try to collect bottles and cans for refunds, that is very lucrative, put your kids in foster care you can't buy diapers for them
ReplyDeleteI just used my TARP bailout checks (I own several businesses that are eligible for TARP funds) to go to the Riviera on board business to look at how we can set up telecom services for smaller banks to monitor their depositors spending activities (weather was great there!). Also, I upgraded my yacht to a 110 foot job with 6 rather than two yacht staff, and bought my 17 year old a new Lotus (his old one was getting boring). I love Obomba and Paulsen and CatchNCarry and Polosi et al.
ReplyDeleteThe dems really worked well with the repubs to get the bailout underway; what swell guys they all are.
Go into the security feild. Bottom security unarmed positions are generaly low paying, but after a year's experience one can then move right on up. The industry is the highest growth industry in the US right now. They will need plenty of gaurds to man those conentration camps after they declare martial law when the collapse comes. Concider that! The looks really good here!
ReplyDeletegold,food,tools,water,food,guns/ammo,some land and neighbors prepeared like you. Cash at hand is good too, but remember: booze, sugar, tobacco, chocolate, ammo, silver& gold coins, skill with tools what will retain value.
ReplyDeleteHistorian.
I just like how people drop comments but were also the same ones that voted back into office the Senators and Representatives that passed the Bank Bailout Bill. How can you expect anything different when the same scum Politicians are in office?
ReplyDeletei thought darwin called black people a u-turn in evolution?
ReplyDelete"i thought darwin called black people a u-turn in evolution?"
ReplyDeleteI thought Bush was white???!
God thats funny !
ReplyDeleteThese friggin lazy unemployed need to go
ReplyDeletehustle some jobs and make some money,man!
stop bitchin and go sell some apples
or shine some shoes or something. The
amount of time they sped chasin unemployment
benefits , they could be mowin lawns, shovelin
snow or anything to make an honest dollar.
Im a friggin handyman and have never been as
busy. What recession? Im swimmin in money.
Martial Law this and Martial Law that, crazy crack pots running around their trailors, still helping economy by working for Walmart.
ReplyDeleteUnion and Capitalism never mixed and without strikes "Da Man" will keep taking>
Your rights, freedoms, youth, future.
Yeah take that gun jackass and sit on it, think of your kid's kids. Wanabe hero.
I'm not a fan of Bush at all, but with this Republican/Democrat talk, don't you realize that Congress actually runs the country. Not solely on the President. Democrats made up the seats in Congress before Mr. Obama got elected into office. Look where that got us. Now look what happened in MA. An almost guaranteed seat for the Democrats has been voted out. That shows how well the Democrats are helping this country out for us. Time for a change. Tired of people having to vote for the "Best of the Worst" to help run this country. Money buys seats, ane the people allow it. The average working (no longer working) middle-class are the majority of this country and we're the ones that always get overlooked. Help the poor and make the rich richer. Who pays these taxes, we the middle-class. What do we get in return for it?? An unemployment check that maxes out at $494/wk and more taxes on top of it!
ReplyDeleteNew World Order coming soon!
ReplyDelete