SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Employment Department hopes to have its phone and computer systems back to normal by this afternoon, after a weekend crush of people trying to file for benefit extensions caused the systems to crash.
Department spokesman Craig Spivey said most people should get their weekly unemployment checks on time, but some might not be able to use the Internet to file for claims until today, in which case their checks will arrive a day later than usual.
Oregon, which has a 12.2 percent jobless rate, extended emergency unemployment pay this week to those whose benefits have expired. That produced a surge of calls Sunday from people trying to file for the extension.
The high demand caused a computer server to crash while state workers were doing maintenance on the state’s computer network. The 60 percent of unemployed who usually file online for their weekly checks then turned to the telephone to file their claims, along with those looking for emergency extensions.
Spivey said that by Monday morning, about half of the 165,000 people collecting unemployment pay had managed to file for their weekly checks. He said the computer system was working by midday, although some people might not be able to get online until today.
The department hopes to have both the computer and phone systems back to normal by this afternoon, he said.
While the department’s Salem telephone lines were jammed, staff in offices elsewhere in the state began calling the estimated 6,000 people eligible for emergency benefits, Spivey said. The first emergency extension checks go out next week, and those eligible will get their money on time, even if they wait until Friday to file, he said.
“We’re just asking for patience,” he said
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