Kansas is asking jobless workers to limit when they file claims for unemployment benefits and has temporarily suspended a website function allowing people to check the status of their claims. The moves announced yesterday are a response to a surge in claims overwhelming the computer system at the Department of Labor.

The KDOL is asking people whose last names begin with A through M to file claims Sunday afternoons, Tuesdays and Thursdays and people whose last names begin with N through Z to file Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The state received nearly 31,000 initial claims last week and handled more than 75,000 ongoing claims.