A plan to have a new call center to help unemployed people 24 hours a day, seven days a week is moving ahead with the signing of a $1.2 million contract, Gov. Tony Evers' administration announced Thursday.

Tagged with: Caleb Frostman Gov. Tony Evers Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

As Wisconsin businesses closed this spring to slow the spread of COVID-19, jobless filings and phone calls flooded the Department of Workforce Development — too quickly for staff employees to keep up. But DWD Secretary Caleb Frostman remained optimistic.

Tagged with: Caleb Frostman Gov. Tony Evers unemployment Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Fewer than 1% of calls from Wisconsin residents who lost their jobs during the pandemic were answered by state officials overseeing unemployment benefits, and the Evers administration did not report important information to lawmakers showing the full scope of the problem, a new state audit shows.

Tagged with: Caleb Frostman Gov. Tony Evers Rob Cowles Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Gov. Tony Evers has in effect fired the leader of the state's workforce development agency, which has struggled for months to clear a massive backlog of unemployment claims since the pandemic hit Wisconsin.

Tagged with: Caleb Frostman Gov. Tony Evers unemployment benefits Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Possibly hundreds of laid-off Wisconsin workers with disabilities can now obtain the sort of federal aid that other unemployed workers have been able to receive during the pandemic.

Tagged with: Caleb Frostman coronavirus Department of Workforce Development unemployment benefits

An unknown number of unemployed people in Wisconsin received too much, or not enough, in benefits from the state Department of Workforce in late April as it worked to process additional money in federal aid to help those suddenly out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic, an audit released Wednesday found.

Tagged with: Caleb Frostman Legislative Audit Bureau Rob Cowles unemployment benefits Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Wisconsin's unemployment rate dropped from 13.6% in April to 12% in May — a bit of positive economic news for the month when the state began to reopen more broadly after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the governor's "safer at home" order.

Tagged with: Caleb Frostman unemployment Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Wisconsin Republicans sparred with leaders in Gov. Tony Evers administration at a sometimes heated legislative hearing Wednesday, faulting them for not doing enough to quickly process unemployment claims during the pandemic.

Tagged with: Caleb Frostman unemployment benefits Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Gov. Tony Evers' call for the Republican-controlled Legislature to waive a one-week waiting period for the payment of unemployment benefits in the face of soaring claims will be an early test of how well the two sides can work together in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tagged with: Caleb Frostman City of Milwaukee Gov. Tony Evers Scott Fitzgerald unemployment

The Wisconsin Senate is scheduled to consider approving two of Gov. Tony Evers' Cabinet secretaries on Tuesday, votes that come just two months after Republicans fired the governor's agriculture secretary.

Tagged with: Caleb Frostman Gov. Tony Evers