NY UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIM SYSTEMS OVERWHELMED

NY UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIM SYSTEMS OVERWHELMED

ASSOCIATED PRESS

January 6, 2009 --

ALBANY, N.Y. - New York's unemployment claims systems have crashed, overwhelmed by tens of thousands of jobless New Yorkers trying to call or log in at once ahead of this week's filing deadline.

State labor department officials say the problem started Monday and caused the phone banks at the state's toll-free claims center to shut down, followed by the online filing system. Leo Rosales, an agency spokesman, says as many as 10,000 people per hour were trying to log into the system.

Technicians are trying to bring the systems back online Tuesday afternoon but officials couldn't say when they'll be back up and available.

Rosales says the system failure shouldn't delay newly unemployed workers from getting benefits because they have until the weekend to file claims.

[NYP]