According to an article in the Dallas Morning News , Texas employers drastically slashed payrolls in December adding 25,700 jobs to the list of job losses causing the state’s unemployment rate to rise to 6 percent from 5.7 percent the month before. And that number’s up from 4.2 percent in December of 2007. What will the figures look like in 2009? With the accelerated job loss level, we may be looking at double digit unemployment numbers in Texas in 2009. But even at 6 percent the system seems to be overwhelmed with the sheer volume of jobless seeking help.
The article highlights the point:
“Due to the increased calls and workload, and the difficulties that customers are having reaching staff, TWC (Texas Workforce Commission) will not penalize claimants when they are unable to reach us in a timely manner,” it said in a statement.
Yes, the system is already getting overwhelmed by the number of jobless seeking unemployment compensation. Could we already be reaching that threshold of unemployed workers that the insurance system is designed to sustain? If not now, we will eventually if the job loss situation continues to worsen.