DWD Says 140,000 Unemployment Applications Are On Hold

The Wisconsin Department of
Workforce Development reports 140 thousand applications for unemployment
benefits are on hold right now.  
The state agency says it
has just opened a new call center to speed up the investigation of those
claims.  Secretary Caleb Frostman blames
the situation on an unprecedented number of claims and staff levels which were
inadequate to handle the volume of cases. 
Frostman says about 125 adjudicators are dealing with the situation now,
100 are about to be brought onboard, and an external vendor will add 200 more
to help deal with the backlog