MACON, Ga. — For the last month, it's become much harder for Tracy Holmes to get in touch with someone from the Georgia Department of Labor.
"This is terrible," he says, "I got a dated letter that was dated April 11 that said benefits had been exhausted and now I'm at wit's wit. I don't know what to do."
Holmes has been getting unemployment benefits since January and has since tried to extend his benefits, but with no success.
"I don't know what else I'm supposed to do besides continue to look for a job on my own because you can't get inside the portal to do anything," he says.
He, along with thousands of other Central Georgians, have yet to hear back.
Just a few counties seeing the biggest unemployment numbers are Bibb, Houston, and Baldwin Counties.
According to the Department of Labor, Bibb leads with 4,321 claims. Houston County is right behind with 3,826, and Baldwin County jumped from just 62 claims in February to 1,101 claims in March.
Darrell Lanier is one of the new applicants.
"I just wanna know if I got everything done right, or am I gonna get anything because you just don't know, you're left in the blank," says Lanier.
He says he's tried calling and emailing for the last two weeks, and all he's gotten is a confirmation number that his application went through.
"Who do you talk to when you're having trouble? There's just no answers for me," says Lanier.
13WMAZ called both the Macon Department of Labor office and the headquarters in Atlanta. We did not get a response from either.
Under the CARES act, unemployment has been extended to 39 weeks from the original 26 weeks.
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