State officials are encouraging Iowans who’re signing up for unemployment benefits for the first time to go on-line. Iowa Workforce Development spokeswoman Leigh McGivern says they’re rolling out the system that’s actually been in place for since September.They’ve been working the bugs out of the system and now hope people statewide will use it. McGivern says anyone who hasn’t received unemployment in the last 52 weeks can sign up. She says the goal is to have 25-percent of eligible filers use the Internet to apply.She says they keep track of the weekly first-time claims, and had 27-hundred last week. McGivern says signing up on-line should save Iowans time and money.The service is available 24-7, whereas the Workforce Development offices are only open Monday through Friday. To sign up you can surf to: www.iowaworkforce.org.
