New York State Department of Labor receives more than 80,500 initial unemployment claims amid pandemic

Posted: Mar 26, 2020 / 07:47 PM EDT / Updated: Mar 26, 2020 / 07:47 PM EDT

Visitors to the Department of Labor are turned away at the door by personnel due to closures over coronavirus concerns, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in New York. Applications for jobless benefits are surging in some states as coronavirus concerns shake the U.S. economy. The sharp increase comes as governments have ordered millions of workers, students and shoppers to stay home as a precaution against spreading the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

(WIVB)–Today the New York State Department of Labor announced initial unemployment insurance claims numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officials with the DOL say unemployment insurance claims last week increased over the past year by 520% in the state with more than 80,500 claims filed.

From Monday, March 16 to Saturday, March 21, the State Department of Labor received over 1,734,100 total calls and over 2,270,300 web hits.

To address the increase in call volume and web traffic, the DOL is implementing a new system based on the first letter of the applicant’s last name: