Jobless claims jam DES
Unemployed wait more than a month for benefits

Jobless claims in Arizona are not only up but they are taking longer than ever to process. These delays are causing those without a job to wait even longer for unemployment insurance benefits to start.

Following Friday’s article in Today’s News-Herald that reported that unemployment in Mohave County remains the second highest in the state, readers commented at http://www.havasunews.com on the delays.

“Don't believe the numbers. My wife has tried repeatedly for 10 days to get thru to D.E.S. to sign up for unemployment after being laid off. Their telephone system states that it cannot handle the volume of calls coming in and then hangs up on the caller. Don't rely on the new jobless numbers to reflect the true and accurate number of recently unemployed,” wrote one reader who identified him/herself with the username kinglhc.

“My husband was laid off more than 2 months ago and the State STILL hasn't processed his paperwork. All we get is that ‘we are really backed up due to all the claims, sorry.’ Sorry don't help pay the bills. As for finding work in Havasu ... there isn't any. Thank goodness we have a little extra put away to help with our bills, but it won't last forever. I feel for those that don't have anything, especially with the holidays coming up,” wrote the person with the username Hate the system.

Patrick F. Harrington, Assistant Director for Employment and Rehabilitation Services for the Arizona Department of Economic Security said it’s true that claims are taking longer than ever to process.

“We have about 125 percent as many claims as last year,” Harrington said. “For non-monetary issues, the adjudicator is to meet a deadline in 21 days and we are not meeting that. It is taking sometimes four or five weeks. And the reason is this is a very bad economy.”

Harrington explained that about 70 percent of claims have an issue that needs to be resolved and that requires human investigation. One example given was when an employee claims he was laid off, while the employer may claim the former worker quit or was terminated for cause.

Another reason for delay can be the reception of unused vacation or severance pay, which will push back the date a claim may start.

“We have 184 people working in the Unemployment Benefits program and 78 are involved in adjudications. They are doing yeoman’s effort here in terms of the workload they are carrying, averaging about 80 cases per week,” Harrington said. “We’re doing everything we can to improve those numbers but it’s difficult. There has never been as many people receiving unemployment insurance benefits as there are now, statewide. It’s a very stressful situation.”

According to numbers released by the Arizona Department of Commerce last week, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the state was 6.1 percent last month, up from 3.9 percent the same time last year.

The Lake Havasu City-Kingman Metropolitan Statistical Area unemployment rate is at 7.4 percent, the second highest in the state behind the Yuma MSA at 19.3 percent.

The lowest unemployment rate is the Phoenix MSA at 5.5 percent.

To reduce the time those out of work have to wait before receiving their first unemployment check. Harrington recommends using the DES Web site — http://www.Azui.com — to file a claim rather than wait in line at the local DES office.

He also said his office is hiring more staff, which is based in Tucson with some staff in Yuma. However, the new hires aren’t expected to start until January and will take at least three months to be fully trained in investigation and adjudication of claims.

“We’re advertising those jobs on the Department of Administration Web site (http://azdoa.gov/) and people can just click on the hiring gateway link,” Harrington said.

You may contact the reporter at dbell@havasunews.com.