The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced on Thursday, March 26, the agency is taking additional steps to address the unprecedented volume of unemployment benefit claims the department has fielded as a result of COVID-19.
IDES is currently working through an unparalleled number of unemployment benefit claims and questions, both online and through the call center.
Over the first three weeks of March, IDES has received more than 130,000 unemployment benefit claims, an increase of nearly 400 percent compared to the same weeks last year.
The department received almost 115,000 . . .
