Old tech, staffing shortages led to unemployed workers waiting weeks for jobless aid

After losing her administrative job last spring, Kentucky resident Jennifer Graves didn't have to wait long to start receiving emergency federal unemployment benefits as COVID-19 crippled the U.S. economy. It was when the single mother of four had to affirm her status at the end of 2020 that she ran into trouble: Her benefits of $587 a week suddenly showed up as "zero" in the state's unemployment system. She reached out to the officer help, but to no avail.

"My emails to them got a little more desperate, and more...