The state's online unemployment benefit filing system was offline to perform an upgrade but it is back up and running as of Friday morning.
The Department of Labor's online system shut down Wednesday afternoon and state officials said they had to install new software to be able to handle more claims.
The upgrade to the DirectBenefits system was necessary to handle the 300 percent increase in the number of seasonal claims they expect to be filed in January.
State Labor Commissioner Scott D. Jackson said in a statement that the number of claims begins to increase during the week of Dec. 26.
“We are very pleased that our online service, located at www.FileCTUI.com is once again available to the public and we thank everyone for their patience and understanding while we made these necessary improvements,” Jackson said in a statement.
On Friday morning, Department of Labor officials said 450 people had used the upgraded system to file claims.
Daryle Dudzinski, director of labor operations for the Department of Labor, said Thursday that cuts in federal funding led to overall delays in system.
“We know our staffing levels aren't enough,” Dudzinski said. “But we're making the changes and staff are really stepping up as they always have.”
