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Tuesday, January 06, 2009
NM Unemployment Calling System Still Clogged
By Sue Major Holmes
Associated Press
More New Mexicans have been filing for unemployment benefits, and the state's system hasn't been able to handle the volume.
During Christmas week, a state-run telephone number for people to call to start unemployment benefits received twice the usual volume of calls, forcing people to wait an average of 40 minutes — if they were lucky enough to get through.
Many callers to the Department of Workforce Solutions' Unemployment Insurance Call Center heard a recorded voice saying the line was busy and to call back later.
On Dec. 28, the system received 95,000 calls — many attributed to people redialing when they couldn't get through the first time, said Carrie Moritomo, spokeswoman for the Department of Workforce Solutions, the state's labor agency.
"Most definitely we're seeing an increase in people engaging in services either through the Internet or through our call center," Moritomo said Tuesday.
She blamed the volume largely on the federal government's decision to extend unemployment benefits, "so people are engaged in the system for a longer period of time."
There also are more people filing this time of year because, for example, holiday hires are being laid off, she said.
New Mexico's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in November 2008, up from 3 percent in November 2007.
The state made 22,457 unemployment benefit payments last week compared to 11,521 payments in the period of Dec. 30, 2007 to Jan. 5, 2008, Moritomo said. On the week of Dec. 14, 2008, the state made 20,321 unemployment payments, up from 18,746 a week earlier and 17,152 the week of Nov. 30, she said.
The labor agency has extended the call center's hours, added two high speed lines that allow the system to put more callers in queue and hired 15 more staffers, she said.
But, she said Tuesday, "We still are receiving reports of people's inability to get through."
The state encourages people to file online to try to bypass telephone backups. If those filing say they don't have a computer, the agency refers them to computers at public libraries or at the agency's 26 centers in the state.
"We've definitely seen an increase in people using the Internet," Moritomo said.
There also are certain hours each night when people can't file because the same system has to be used to process payments, Moritomo said.
"Our biggest challenge is that we are working within the constraints of our federal budget," she said. "This portion of our agency is completely federally funded, and we've had a flat budget for 10 years, if not longer. We're offering more services and engaging more people with the same amount of financial resources."
Copyright ©2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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