LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — The latest numbers of people filing for unemployment were released Thursday, and they shattered records nationally and here in Pennsylvania.
Filing for unemployment is a tricky process to navigate under normal circumstances, and obviously, these are not normal circumstances.
The state's unemployment office has been flooded with calls in the last two weeks, even leading the entire website to crash on several occasions. Officials plead for patience and say that if you qualify, and take all the necessary steps, you will get your benefit payment check eventually.
"I've called them no less than 1,000 times. I spent eight hours on the phone yesterday trying to get through, Never, never once got through. Eight hours yesterday, and I'm already working on three hours today and still can't get through to talk to somebody."
That experience, described to Newswatch by a Scranton man who did not wish to be identified, has been the experience of thousands of Pennsylvanians in the last two weeks.
The man we spoke to was recently laid off from his job at a dry-cleaning business. He describes the current process of filing for unemployment compensation as a "nightmare," and says the state wasn't prepared for this type of surge in unemployment.
"I think they need to communicate with the public and keep the public informed as to what they're doing. Because when people can't get information, they start to panic. And these are really trying times right now."
State Representative Aaron Kaufer, who serves parts of Luzerne County, says the state's unemployment office is overwhelmed and simply needs a larger staff.
"They're used to processing about 1,000 applications a day. That's a very busy day at our compensation offices. They received 650,000 in less than a week," said Rep. Aaron Kaufer, (R) 120th District.
Rep. Kaufer advises that if the system has crashed and you're waiting on the phone for hours on end, hang up and call your state legislator. He or she will answer your questions and fill out the paperwork for you if need be.
"The moral of the story is that people are not able to file because the system is down, they will not lose out on their eligibility, it will be retroactive, and people will be able to collect that money if they weren't able to file, so it's not like people need to be in panic mode. They will be able to collect, even if they weren't able to file in a timely manner because the system crashed," Rep. Kaufer said.
In his daily press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Wolf acknowledged there are problems.
"We have been overwhelmed by the new claims, but we are tracking this every hour, and we are doing everything we can to make sure we're turning this around as quickly and efficiently as possible," the governor said.