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Idaho Deploys New Online Unemployment System

The new system, called iUS, hasn't had any problems since the launch and generated 2015 tax notices for businesses in several hours.

The Idaho Department of Labor's new online system to process unemployment taxes and benefits has processed more than $1 million in benefits since its Monday launch.

The Labor Department's online unemployment services were down from Sept. 11 to 14 as the new system was installed. The new system, called iUS, hasn't had any problems since the launch and also generated 2015 tax notices for businesses in several hours. Before iUS, the Labor Department devoted about 2,000 hours of employee time to create the notices.

The Idaho Department of Labor joined labor departments in Arizona, Wyoming and North in a consortium nearly five years ago to develop new automative systems. Idaho broke away as the project stalled after spending more than $70 million on a new system wasn't going to be completed by the end of 2014 when Idaho was scheduled to decommission it's outdated system, according to the department.

The Idaho Labor Department dedicated 12 employees to develop iUS in-house for $7.1 million, according to the department.

Department Director Ken Edmunds said in a release that the new system will save money by preventing errors. He said the technology could work for other states.

"We're eager to prove that point," Edmunds said.

©2014 The Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho)