The country’s surge in unemployment continued another week with more than 6.5 million new applications for unemployment insurance. The state’s initial jobless claims are just under 134,000.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Indiana experienced a third week of unprecedented spikes in applications for unemployment insurance in response to massive COVID-19-related layoffs. Manufacturing-intensive areas including Elkhart and Allen counties continued to see spikes in claim numbers.

READ MORE: You Asked About Filing For Unemployment Insurance In Indiana. We’ll Walk You Through It

Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Fred Payne says the number of weekly initial claims decreased slightly from the week before. But it’s important to note that’s still the second highest in state history.

“During the month of March, the weekly unemployment claims number pretty much shattered everything that we’d seen before,” he says. “For the week ending April 4, we didn’t see much different.”

Payne noted that the agency is getting a massive influx of phone calls and is trying to fix a problem where calls are getting dropped when transferred.

Contact Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.

This is a rapidly evolving story, and we are working hard to bring you the most up-to-date information. However, we recommend checking the websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Indiana State Department of Health for the most recent numbers of COVID-19 cases.