Like states across the country, Wisconsin is dealing with an unprecedented spike in unemployment claims due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it's a system that was hurting long before anyone had ever heard of the coronavirus. In this special edition of Open Record, FOX6 Investigators Bryan Polcyn and Amanda St. Hilaire dig into an issue that bring the most phone calls and emails into the FOX6 newsroom: Unemployment. Thousands of people have been waiting weeks for payments and despite the state reporting it's hiring more people to handle claims, there's still a backlog. The pair explains why a number of changes to the system over the last decade have made getting unemployment in Wisconsin so difficult. Typically, Open Record is a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of FOX6 Investigative reports. But we’re changing things up a bit for the time being: We’re bringing you the latest on our coverage of COVID-19 here in Wisconsin. We’ll bring you more frequent episodes over the next few weeks as we navigate this.

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