California’s embattled unemployment benefits agency has cleared about 246,000 of its more than 1.6 million backlog in claims.
The agency said Wednesday it has started accepting new unemployment benefit applications after a two-week “reset” where it updated its technology.
But Employment Development Department Executive Director Sharon Hilliard said the backlog won’t be cleared until January.
Hilliard said some people have been waiting on benefits for up to five months.
Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu said it’s hard for him to believe the agency will clear the backlog by January. He said the agency has failed California in every imaginable way.