State unemployment websites crash as applications surge

[Demovictory9]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-state-unemployment-websites-crash-applications-surge-n1162731

Coronavirus: State unemployment websites crash as applications surge
"Totally broken," tweeted one person about their area's unemployment website. Trump administration officials have warned unemployment could reach 20 percent due to the pandemic.

Workers who have suddenly found themselves without a paycheck because of the growing coronavirus pandemic in the United States are now dealing with another frustration — state unemployment websites crashing because of high traffic.

From Oregon to New York and Washington, D.C., officials and Twitter users have highlighted the problem after the mass closing of restaurants, retail stores and other businesses as part of the effort to slow the spread of the virus.

Some states are responding by staggering the days on which people apply for unemployment benefits based on the first letter of applicants' last names.

A user whose Twitter account says she is from Columbus, Ohio, posted that the unemployment website in her area "can only handle about 3 people at a time apparently."

[True Blue American]

1. Ohio had 77,000.