TAMPA, Fla. — The fight for unemployment benefits rages on, as thousands of Floridians are left in the dark over where their applications stand.
I-Team Investigator Kylie McGivernfound the state’s unemployment website, CONNECT, was down all weekend — meaning those who have filed for unemployment could not check the status of their application.
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Ironically, the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) says the website was down due to upgrades that are supposed to allow the state to process claims faster.
As of Monday, those applying for unemployment tell the I-Team the website is back up, but many report they still cannot get through and the overloaded website keeps kicking them off.
Monday, Florida’s unemployment office reported less than 25% of unemployment applications have been processed so far. The percentage of out-of-work Floridians who have received unemployment checks is even lower, at just 6.2% or 40,193 people.
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Over the weekend, the state released an updated, 38-page resource guide in an attempt to help frustrated Floridians claim unemployment.
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If you have something you'd like the I-Team to investigate, you can call 1-866-428-NEWS or email kylie.mcgivern@wfts.com.
