The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development reports 140,000 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.
