Minnesota assigns days for unemployment applications as web traffic surges

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development said on Sunday it would start assigning days of the week for people to sign up for unemployment benefits amid a steep rise in applications.

DEED said it was processing more applications "than we have ever received before."

Applicants are asked to submit their online applications on an assigned day based on their Social Security numbers:

• Monday: Last digit of Social Security number is 0, 1 or 2
• Tuesday: Last digit of Social Security number is 3, 4 or 5
• Wednesday: Last digit of Social Security number is 6, 7, 8 or 9
• Thursday or Friday: Any number

You can apply for unemployment insurance through Minnesota's unemployment portal.

Many Minnesotans struggling with unemployment benefits application

On Wednesday, DEED said 160,000 Minnesotans had applied for unemployment insurance over the course of nine days. Commissioner Steve Grove said more than a quarter of Minnesotans could be temporarily unemployed in the coming weeks because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits, which is far and away the highest number of first-time unemployment applicants in U.S. history. 

3.3 million seek US jobless aid, nearly 5 times earlier high