Coronavirus New Jersey: Some Unemployment Recipients To Have Benefits Delayed Due To Computer System Crash
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) -- As if filing an unemployment claim hasn't been difficult enough, New Jersey officials say recipients will get benefits a few days late this week. The Department of Labor's computer system was down for several hours on Saturday and people could not certify their weekly benefits.
Saturday's outage may have been tied to Friday's filings of independent contractors and self-employed workers.
For the first time, those workers could file claims and officials say it overwhelmed the system.
"I don't blame people for being frustrated, we don't begrudge that for one second," Gov. Phil Murphy said Saturday. "This is an extraordinary crisis. But I will also say we have also chopped through, and our friends and colleagues of the Department of Labor, have chopped through an enormous amount of claims. They're trying to stay above water."
There are countless COVID-19 jobless claims that are still unpaid.
Some people have been waiting for six weeks and can't get through on the phone. Eyewitness News has spoken to people who've been waiting six weeks.
As of April 24, about 622,000 people were collecting weekly benefits in the state.