Michigan’s unemployment website and other online services were down on Monday, the first day self-employed workers and independent contractors could start filing claims for benefits under a federal aid package enacted because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Caleb Buhs, spokesman for the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget, said state networks and applications were experiencing “performance issues” causing some online services to be temporarily unavailable.
“Teams are working diligently to restore service to 100%,” he said. “There is not currently a timeline for restoration.”
Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency has been deluged by people seeking benefits.
More than 800,000 filed initial claims over three weeks, second-most in the U.S.
The unemployment website also crashed for a couple hours nearly two weeks ago.
The state again urged workers to file on certain days based on the first letter of their last name and to file in off-peak hours.
