The hiring of more interviewers and other improvements greatly reduced call wait times in handling claims for state Unemployment Compensation benefits, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday.

The governor touted a turnaround in the troubled state-run program during an appearance at the state Department of Labor and Industry.

He said the average wait for a call to a UC claims center is nine minutes. Two years ago the average wait time was 67 minutes.

“We now have the lowest call wait time in more than six years,” said Shapiro.

A post-pandemic backlog of more than 40,000 UC claims awaiting processing when Shapiro took office in 2023 was eliminated six months later. The department now responds to emails concerning UC claims within 24 hours on the average.

Shapiro and Labor and Industry Secretary Nancy Walker attributed the improvements to getting the budget appropriations to hire 380 UC claims interviewers and introduce new services.

These include expanding UC Connect helping people get job help at CareerLink centers In the 67 counties and introducing a 24/7 live chat feature.

Shapiro said he made it a goal from day one of his administration to improve the UC system.

“We were determined to fix the problem,” he said.

Labor and Industry introduced a new computer system to handle claims, known as Unemployment Compensation Benefits Modernization, in 2021. The system went online after years of delays and major cost overruns.

The host of problems facing the UC system were a staple at legislative committee oversight hearings for at least a decade.