Thousands Of Newly Jobless Americans Crash Unemployment Systems In 3 States

January 7, 2009 11:34 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Electronic unemployment systems in at least three states crashed under the crush of thousands of new claims from unemployed Americans.

Other states rushed to adjust their systems to avoid similar problems as the flow of Americans claiming unemployment benefits after losing their jobs continued.

Along with having trouble keeping up with online filings, state unemployment centers are also swamped with telephone inquiries.

The situation has an upside though, some states are hiring workers to deal with the increased workload created by other people losing a job.

New York, North Carolina and Ohio were the three states whose systems totally shut down because of the increased use. In New York alone, about 10,000 people per hour tried to log on to file new claims or check the status of claims they had already filed.

U.S. unemployment has surged to 4.5 million Americans collecting unemployment benefits, which is a 26-year high.

The actual number of unemployed is higher because some people have run through their benefits, while other unemployed Americans didn't qualify for benefits to begin with.